Disclaimer: I do not own The Real Ghostbusters.

Warnings: Angst, goodbye

Mindless Babble: I have no idea what rank Frump is so I made him a detective.

The sun was hidden by a veil of dark clouds casting the city into shades of dismal gray. It had tried to rain earlier but now it seemed as if Mother Nature were holding her breath. Even the birds kept their songs a secret.

Peter sighed as he looked out the dirty window of the bunkroom. I just had to pick today to go to the bank, didn't I, he thought, gloomily. Of course it was the first day off they had had in a long time. He wished that he could have worn his thermals under his jeans and sweatshirt but they were getting a much-needed wash.

The brown haired scientist tapped the bundle of checks in the inside pocket of his jacket. He slipped it on, zipped it up and, with a last look at the firehouse, slipped through the front door. As he hailed a taxi, he smiled to himself. He knew where the others would be heading after breakfast. Egon would head up to his lab and Ray would be making a beeline for his bunk to read the latest issue of Captain Steel that he had bought last night but had been too tired to read. By now, Winston would be buried under Ecto One's hood, trying to fine tune one thing or another. And he was off to the bank. A yellow cab pulled up and Peter jumped in, thankful for the warmth the car held.

Winston was still working on his beloved car and daydreaming of winning the next show when a gentle rapping on the hood caught his attention. He turned his head enough to see a flash of brown jumpsuit. He pulled himself from the innards of the former ambulance and straightened.

"Hey, Pete. I thought you were going to the bank?"

"Yeah, well I forgot to do something before I left." Green eyes glittered with some deep, hidden emotion. "Got a question for you."

"Okay, shoot."

"If I were to go away like on an extended vacation or something, would you take care of the guys for me?"

Winston arched an eyebrow. "What kinda question is that? You planning a trip without us?"

Peter smiled shyly. "Yeah, sorta."

A look of understanding crossed over the man's dark skinned features. A grin so wide it threatened to split his face in two appeared on his face.

"Pete, you dog! You finally asked Lisa to marry you, didn't you?"

Peter's smile confirmed it for Winston. "In that case, sure, I'll keep an I on the guys for you. No matter what, I'll always keep them safe." He looked Peter in the eyes. "I'll try to keep all of you protected."

Peter's voice took up a solemn tone. "Thanks, buddy."

"Anytime my man!"

Ray was sitting on his bunk, lost in the wondrous world of his comic book hero. His expression changed with each frame, from fear to amazement to excitement. A chuckle from the foot of his bed brought him back to the real world. He looked up and found Peter standing there with his arms akimbo and a sparkle in his eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Peter. I didn't hear you come in," Ray said, reluctantly setting his comic book on his nightstand.

"Yeah, I kinda noticed," laughed Peter as he sat down on the chest that sat at the foot of Ray's bunk. "I've been saving this for your birthday, but I guess I should tell you now…"

Why do you have to tell me now?" Ray asked suspiciously.

"Because you're probably going to receive the first one before your birthday gets here and I don't want you to go out and buy a second one."

" 'A second one'?" asked a puzzled Ray.

Peter grinned even wider. "I got you a years subscription to 'Captain Steel'."

The younger man's face lit up. "Really? Gosh, that's great! Now I won't have to worry about missing an issue! Thank you!" He slid off the bed. "I'm going to go tell Winston that he doesn't have to drive me to the comic book store every month. This is so great!"

Peter looked at his friend thoughtfully. "I just wanted to give you a reminder that, no matter what, I'll make sure that someone is there to watch over you."

Ray stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. "Thank you, Peter."

Egon hunched over his microscope studying his latest mold sample. Janine hovered nearby trying to catch Egon's attention, to no avail.

"Is Spengs out to lunch again?"

The redhead looked up and replied, "Yeah, with a slime mold!" She made to storm out of the lab but an arm in front of her stopped her. Peter leaned forward to whisper into her ear.

"He loves you; he just doesn't know how to show it. Please don't ever give up on him."

Janine studied him, surprise clearly written on her face. "That's one promise I can keep, Dr. V."

"Good."

Janine walked away smiling.

Egon finally pulled himself from his microscope and acknowledged his associate. "You must tell me what you said to her to get her to smile when she was so angry with me."

"I told her the truth."

"And that would be…?" inquired the tall, blond man.

"That you love her." The reply came with no hesitation. "I told her not to give up on you."

"Why did you tell her that?" Egon asked, the curiosity thick in his voice.

"Because you never gave up on me." The simple statement was spoken with no humor, taking Egon by surprise. "You know, back in collage, I was so afraid of disappointing you. After my mom died, I really didn't have anyone to lean on until I met you and Ray. He was easy to impress, though."

"You were his hero," interrupted Egon. "Still are, last time I checked."

Peter laughed. "Yeah after Captain steel that is!

"Seriously, though. I wanted to earn your respect so badly." The younger scientist bowed his head as if he was ashamed to admit it.

"But Peter, you always had it," Egon said softly.

Peter looked up, a shy smile on his lips. He muttered something that sounded like, "I hope you still feel that way at the end of the day."

"I'm sorry, Peter. I didn't hear you."

"It was nothing," Peter said, quickly. "I've got to go. See ya later!"

Winston watched Peter leave. A quick wave and he was gone. The door just opened again just as Ray came bounding down the stairs with a more sedately passed Egon. The three teammates watched as Detective Frump trudge towards them. He carried a strange look on his face. It almost appeared to be sorrow. He stopped in front of the three men and waited for Janine to join them and slyly take Egon's hand.

"This is hard enough to say but I know it'll be harder for you to hear it and near impossible for you to accept it." Frump took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Dr. Peter Venkman is dead."

"What? I just saw him leave!" Winston exclaimed. "You came in seconds after Pete left!"

"I didn't see anyone," the detective said, flatly. "All I do know is that there was a botched bank robbery about half an hour ago. Dr. Venkman took a bullet to the chest protecting one of the tellers. He was declared DOA about ten minutes ago. I thought you guys would like to know before it hits the papers tomorrow."

Stunned silence hung thickly in the air. Frump turned to leave.

"I may not have liked him, but he was a good guy. I'm sorry for your loss."

Frump's parting words seemed to echo long after he was gone.

Finally Janine could not hold back any longer. "But Egon and I just saw him up in the lab!" A tear slipped down her cheek.

"How could that be?" asked Winston. "I was just talking to him down here. He came in, we talked a bit and then he left. That was just before Frump came in."

"Perhaps we all saw him at the same time." Egon looked at the youngest Ghostbuster. "Raymond, did you see Peter just now?"

Ray nodded mutely.

"So he came back just to say goodbye?" Janine asked, more tears streaming down her cheeks.

Instead of answering, Egon pulled her into a gentle embrace. Letting the tears soak into his shirt, he tenderly rubbed her back.

Winston gazed at the pair thoughtfully. "You know, Pete was wearing jeans this morning at breakfast. When I saw him just now he was wearing his jumpsuit."

"He was wearing the same thing when we saw him," Egon said, mentally kicking himself for not noticing. "Raymond?"

Another mute nod.

"A…at least he died a hero," Winston managed, choking on the sorrow that threatened to close his throat.

"No."

The whispered voice broke the silence that had befallen them once again. Three pairs of tear reddened eyes tried to focus on the smallest member. Ray stood there, clutching his Captain Steel comic book as if it were a life preserver.

"He's not dead. Heroes never die."

Just then the phone rang. Janine reluctantly untangled herself from Egon's safe embrace and walked to her desk. She picked up the phone and, after a few moments of conversation, hung up. She took a deep breath, trying to focus.

"Hey, guys? I hate to do this but there's a class six tearing up downtown…"

Winston wiped away the tears. He closed the hood of Ecto-1 and walked to the driver's side door. He waited for the others.

"Let's roll!"