"Happy fourteenth birthday!" Doctor Raymond Stantz said to his daughter Susan Stantz.
"Yay."
"You don't seem very excited about being fourteen. Why? It's like the next best thing to being sixteen."
Sue laughed. "I'm fourteen and my dad catches ghosts." She said.
Ray lost his smile; he sat down beside her on the balcony of their apartment. Sue's mother had gotten into a car accident so it was just them living together; they lived close to the firehouse so Ray could continue his job. Everyone at Sue's school knew who she was and what her father did for a living.
"Those kids at school aren't teasing you are they?" Ray asked.
Sue smiled. "No it's not that. It's just I'm old enough for a learners, but my ghostbusting dad won't let me drive the car."
Ray looked at her. "You want to drive the Ecto-1?" He asked as he pulled a cigarette box out of his back pocket. He lit one and put it in the corner of his mouth.
"I figured there was no point in asking. I bet you love that car as much as me. Maybe more." She said with a smile.
"I'd have to ask Egon." Ray said thoughtfully.
Sue's eyes widened. "You'd let me drive the Ecto-1!"
"Well, like I said, I'd have to ask Egon. It may be my car, but the guys also use it."
"You'll really ask him?"
"Sure, you can drive the Ecto-1 as long as you wear a proton-pack once a week." He said smiling.
Sue blinked. "I thought I wasn't allowed to touch the proton-packs."
"Well you want to drive a Ghostbuster car, your going to have to do some Ghostbuster work."
Sue groaned. "I'd have to wear one of those stupid outfits wouldn't I?"
Ray frowned. "They're not stupid."
"Dad! You wear a jumpsuit. And boots. And for some reason, only you wear gloves on top of that."
"They're not stupid." He mumbled. "Besides, why do you even want to drive the Ecto-1?"
"Because it's cool. I could really shut those kids up at school, if I showed up driving the Ecto-1. And I like it."
"I thought it was a 'stupid looking old car with a whiney siren."
"I thought that two years-ago. I think it's cool now!"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I told you, you would like it. Now I know your really mine and not Peter's or something."
"Ew, why did you use him?" She asked.
"Because your not black so you can't be Winston's and you too...smart to be Egon's."
She frowned. "That wasn't what you were going to say was it?"
"No."
"What were you really going to say?"
"I'm not about to tell you. Anyways, you think the Ecto-1 is cool?"
"For the last time, 'yes'.
"Does that mean I can drop you off at school now?"
"Dad! The point of this conversation is so I can drive the Ecto-1, not you."
Ray crushed his cigarette and threw the end off the balcony. "Yes but I or any of the other's-who's legal to drive, meaning any of the other Ghostbusters, would have to be in the front seat. So you may be driving, but we get the car back after, and we drive away, meaning we really are just dropping you off."
Sue's eye twitched. "You're so mean." She said as a joke.
"And I love you too."
Sue laughed.
Ray put an arm around her shoulders in a one arm hug. She one arm hugged him back. "Now go get ready, we have to go to the firehouse. I think Egon got you something. Besides, like I said; I have to ask Egon about the Proton-pack."
Sue looked at him. "What about the proton-pack?"
"If you want to drive the Ecto-1 you have to wear a Proton-pack at least once a week."
Sue groaned.
"Oh come on, Mike and Ian have already tried on Proton-packs."
"Yeah, well Mike is eighteen and he was given a choice, luckily he went off to college. And Ian? Well Ian's Egon's kid, of course he tried on a Proton-Pack. I thought I was too young to have a big heavy Proton-Pack anyways."
"Egon and I both think your mature enough. And Egon can make you a smaller one."
"And what does Winston and Peter think?"
"Peter says 'as long as she doesn't zap me I'm good.' and Winston 'It's up to you.' So."
"But why? I haven't decided if I wanted to be a Ghostbuster yet."
"And I'm not rushing you. It's just it's Ghostbuster stuff so..."
Sue stopped and thought. 'What if I was a Ghostbuster? How cool will that be?'
Ray looked at her. "You're thinking about it, I can tell."
"Alright. Go and ask Egon, I'll think about it."
"That's my girl." Ray said and one arm hugged her again.
"I hope you know that mean's I'll put thinking about off until next year." Sue joked.
"I know, now go get ready, although Peter might approve, I don't think everyone will appreciate you wearing you pyjamas'."
"You'll ask Egon?"
"If you get ready I will."
"I'm going, I'm going."
