Dust settled over the battle scarred grounds of the ancient crypt as the four Ghostbusters laid motionless on the cold, stone floor. A massive swarm of enraged ghosts had unleashed their wrath throughout New York City as construction and renovation of an abandoned park had unearthed the long forgotten and buried tomb. It took weeks to track down and capture the wayward malevolent spirits but at long last the paranormal investigators had located the source of the hauntings and had prepared to face off with the final angry spirits.

The bust had started off relatively normal, the four men working together to catch the ghosts in their small portable traps one at a time, but it didn't take long for the heavy activity of the bust to destabilize the already decrepit ruins.

Just as Dr. Ray Stantz had trapped the final ghost the ceiling of the crypt collapsed. Massive stones fell downward with a thunderous crash that shook the entire crypt and sent the Ghostbusters flying back in the wake of the powerful impact's shockwave.

Dr. Peter Venkman was the first of the downed group to come to his senses. His eyes focused on the broken ceiling overhead and his thoughts focused on the throbbing pain in his head. Realizing he was laying on his back Peter sat upright slowly and used his elbows to prop himself up on the cold ground. Looking around the crypt he saw Ray laying on his stomach and unconscious a feet feet from him. Furthest from the doorway was Winston Zeddemore, who like Ray was unconscious and laying on his side. Dr. Egon Spengler was the closest to the door, but was unconscious as well and had a large stone resting over his leg trapping him down in place.

"Guys?" Peter called out, his voice sounding pitiful and quiet in comparison to the deafening calamity of the collapsed stone around him. "Guys we need to get out of here!"

Small bits of dusty stone rained down from the damaged ceiling and made Peter cough as a result. Wafting the smoky dust away from his face Peter forced himself to stand up and immediately flinch as a sharp pain in his hip caught him off guard. Looking down at the obvious sight of his pain Peter spotted a patch of blood pooling on his right hip and a jagged stone jutting out at the center of the wound.

"Uh-oh." Peter put his hand over the stone and applied a firm grip to the penetrating object. "This is gonna' hurt..."

With a swift gesture Peter pulled the cold stone from his hip and bit down on his lower lip to keep himself from yelping in pain. His hand was shaking from the incredible pain as he tossed the offending stone aside and returned his attention to his colleagues as he began limping toward Winston.

"Zed? Open your eyes man." Peter struggled to kneel down beside his friend but he pushed through his discomfort and rested a hand on Winston's arm. "Come on. We better get out of here before the rest of this place falls apart."

Winston didn't respond to Peter's voice. A large cut over Winston's left eye was indicative of a blow to the head, most likely occurring when the roof collapsed.

"Okay marine," Peter grabbed onto Winston's arm and draped it around his shoulders. Standing up on a trembling leg Peter forced Winston to stand up, poorly, on his own two feet and heavily lean against the psychologist for support. "on your feet. And... march!"

Peter huffed as he all but carried Winston through the heavily damaged crypt and toward the narrow entryway to the stone laden structure. The pain in his hip was excruciating but Peter pushed himself to endure it long enough to get Winston to safety.

Fortunately for the two wounded men Ray had parked Ecto-1 just a few yards from the entrance to the crypt. Fortunately still the interior collapse of the crypt hadn't damaged or even slightly affected the iconic hearse. A few stone blocks now partially obstructed the once clear path between the crypt and the car, but it wasn't anything that Peter couldn't overcome.

Just as the duo passed through the doorway a large chunk of the unstable wall came tumbling down and nearly knocked Peter off his feet for the second time.

Carrying Winston over to the opposite side of the car that faced the crypt Peter sat his friend down and positioned him so he was sitting upright against the hearse and out of harm's way.

"One down..." Peter peeked over the car toward the crumbling crypt and flinched. "Two to go." Looking back to Winston, who was blissfully unaware of the situation unfolding around him, Peter stood upright and pressed a hand to his bleeding hip. "Don't go anywhere Zed. I'll be right back!"

Returning to the interior of the crypt with a heavy limp Peter went about tending to Ray. Unlike Winston's head injury that had knocked him completely unconscious, Ray was somewhat coherent and regaining consciousness.

"Hey, look who's finally awake!" Peter playfully observed as he put a hand on Ray's shoulder. "Let's go pal, this place isn't very welcoming to us Ghostbusting types."

"Peter?" Ray put one hand to the side of his head as he gave his friend a sleepy look. "What happened?"

"Roof came down." Peter explained quickly as he took Ray's arm and wrapped it around his shoulders in the same way he had done for Winston earlier. "We need to get out of here before everything comes down with it."

"How're the others?" Ray asked as Peter helped him walk through his lingering daze.

"Winston's out cold and outside. After I get you out of the crypt I'm going to get Egon, and then we're ALL getting out of here!"

"Let me help you with Egon, then we can-"

"Nope." Peter didn't stop moving and he didn't let Ray stop either. It was a strain on his injured hip but Peter hid the pain very well and escorted Ray through the doorway of the crypt. "I'll worry about Egon, you worry about Winston. Then after we're all back out and safe we can all worry together."

Ray found the strength to finish walking to the hearse without assistance. As soon as he spotted Winston resting up against the car Ray instinctively went over to his friend and checked him over for any sign of additional injury save for the head injury.

"Keep watch over Winston." Peter urged as he turned slowly around to return to the crypt. The walls of the stone structure continued to crumble and fall away bit by bit. "As soon as I get Egon we're going back to the firehouse!"

Braving the crypt for the third and final time Peter walked into the ancient tomb and put his hands on the large chunk of stone that had pinned Egon's leg to the ground. Egon seemed to have taken the brunt of the impact, as he had cuts along his face, his jumpsuit was torn at his sleeve and his glasses had a broken lens.

Examining the stone Peter could see that the weight was not only holding Egon down, but it was crushing his leg from the knee down. If the stone wasn't moved soon then it was very likely that the stone could break his leg or cut off blood supply that could lead to permanent damage or even an amputation!

Time was running out for both men still inside the crypt.

"Okay big guy, this won't hurt a bit!" Peter soothed despite Egon being unconscious on the floor. "As soon as I move this-"

Peter grunted as he put all his strength into his hands, arms and shoulders in an attempt to heft the stone aside. His hip flared with incredible agony as the effort was pushing Peter to his limit. Stopping briefly just to take in a breath Peter looked up toward the ceiling and saw several large stones shifting and threatening to fall and crush himself and Egon at any moment...

"Break's over!" Peter found a renewed energy as fear and adrenaline surged through his veins. Putting all of his strength into his efforts he finally managed to slide the heavy stone block off of Egon's leg, freeing his friend at long last. "Let's move!"

Egon groaned in pain as the blood flow returned to his leg and Peter grabbed into his arms. Unable to lift Egon, the tallest member of the team, up and over his shoulders, Peter chose instead to pull Egon onto his back and hold him by the arms. Egon was limp and heavy, his head resting against Peter's shoulder as the psychologist worked feverishly to compensate for the extra weight on his back, his injured hip and the unsteady floor.

"Okay, we can make it! We can make it!" Peter shouted as he ran with a limp in his right leg toward the only entryway, and as such only exit, of the crypt. The ceiling let out a loud crash as the final stones fell freely and bombarded the stone floor in a cascade of earth and power. Peter nearly jumped through the doorway and collapsed to the ground with Egon on his back just as the interior of the crypt was finished off by decay and ruin. Huffing in relief Peter lifted his head and flashed a cheesy grin. "Told you we'd make it!"

Egon was still unconscious, his only response was another pained groan.

"Yeah. You and me both." Peter joked as he clumsily pushed himself up from the ground with one hand and used his other hand to hang onto Egon's arm. "Let's get out of here. I'm sure Janine would love to play nurse tonight."

Ray had managed to sit Winston down in the backseat of Ecto-1 and was placing a bandage over the cut when he saw Peter stumbling over with Egon on his back. As he helped Peter move Egon into the second seat in the back next to Winston, Ray couldn't help but give Peter a nod of respect.

"Watch his leg, Ray." Peter cautioned as he looked at the cut and bruised up limb. "I don't think it's broken, but I'd be willing a hairline fracture or two."

"Right. I think Winston's been concussed too." Ray eyed his friends warily, knowing that on that day he came uncomfortably close to losing them in the collapse. Luckily Peter didn't hesitate to make a decision. "You know, that took a lot of guts to go back in there for us. Especially when you're hurt, too."

"It's not a big deal." Peter didn't want to think about it anymore. "And I get the feeling you guys would do the same for me!"

"I like to think you're right."

"I like to think I'm right, too. All the time. Always."

Ray shook his head as he took his seat behind the steering wheel and waited for Peter to join him in the front of Ecto-1. "Let's get these two checked out at the hospital and then get back to the firehouse. I think it's time for a vacation!"

Peter leaned back in his seat and winced as the pain in his hip screamed at him for being so rough on his own body. "You know what, after a day like today I think spending the night in the hospital would be just as good as a vacation." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Let's get out of here. I never want to see the inside of a crypt ever again!"

-The End