Paige wandered out of the basement of the firehouse with a sense of achievement brimming in her mind. All five of the shield generators had been built, all five worked properly and all that was required was key placement for the generators to be of any use. The final placements would be later decided and enacted by Ray and Winston, but until then it was safe to set aside work and take a moment to relax. Walking passed Janine's desk Paige noticed that Ecto-1 was not in the garage.

"Dr. Stantz is still checking on Dr. Venkman?" Paige asked curiously, noting the time on her watch.

"Yeah. He's been gone for almost four hours now."

"Perhaps Dr. Venkman's injured ankle had deteriorated to the point of medical intervention."

"Even if that was the case I can guarantee you that Dr. Venkman still wouldn't go to the hospital."

"And Mr. Zeddemore, or I should say Winston, is he with Dr. Stantz as well?"

"No, he's upstairs sleeping. And by the way, you can don't have to call Ray 'Dr. Stantz', just call him 'Ray' like the rest of us."

Paige nodded toward Janine as she slipped off her white lab coat, the cuffs of the sleeves stained black with grease and electrical scorching. "I will remember that."

"Geez, you look like you were working in a coal mine or something. When's the last time you slept?"

"I'm a high functioning insomniac. It's not uncommon for me to work with little to no sleep for an extended period of time." Paige tucked the coat under her arm before returning to the basement.

"Sounds like at least two days..." Janine sighed and returned to her paperwork. "One good thing about needing a new job in the new year is I'll be surrounded by slightly more normal people."

The garage door of the firehouse opened as Ecto-1 backed into the building. It was a slow pace as the large lumbering vehicle took its usual spot in the center of the garage. The lights were off and the siren was silent, the only noise emanated by the vehicle was the loud exhaust just moments before the key in the ignition was switched off.

Ray exited the driver's side and walked over to the passenger side. Opening the door he helped Peter to climb out of the vehicle and stand on his unsteady legs. "You good?"

"Yeah." Peter's bloodshot puffy eyes were as heavy as Ray's. A large white bandage had been placed over the laceration on his forehead and his ankle had been re-bandaged courtesy of Ray. "I just want to get to bed, try to get rid of this damn headache."

Janine could see the bandage on Peter's forehead and was immediately concerned. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Slipped on the floor, bumped my head." Peter quickly answered as Ray handed him his crutches from the rear of the car. "Now I'm going to go to bed." He laughed a little bit to himself. "Hey, that rhymed!"

"Come on Venkman." Ray put a hand on Peter's back to guide him toward the stairs. "Time to lay down."

"Is he okay?" Janine asked Ray as she followed them up the stairs.

"Yeah, doctor says he'll be okay. Just a bump, no concussion."

"And his ankle?"

"Just a sprain." Ray lied as he helped Peter reach the top of the stairs. "He needs to keep off of it for a while."

Janine watched as Ray helped Peter to walk into the bunk room, letting the injured man lean awkwardly against during the trek. "Well, if you need anything you know where to find me!" Retreating down the stairs and back to her desk she left Peter and Ray alone.

"Ray," Peter gave Ray a sly grin. "we never saw a doctor. What did you tell Janine then? A lie? You dirty dog!"

"I did that for your sake Peter." Ray helped him to walk over to his bed and lay down. Winston was sound asleep on his own bed on the far side of the room. "I know you won't go to a doctor unless you've been strapped down to a stretcher or are unconscious. So this is the next best thing." He propped Peter's crutches up against the wall beside his bed. "You will be staying here where someone will always be around to keep an eye on you."

"And that whole 'sprained ankle' bit, that was for me to?" Peter was looked down at all the soft gauze wraps that bandaged his ankle and tried to lift it up.

"I know it's broken Peter, not twisted. If I had said anything else Janine would've been suspicious. So we're splitting the difference and calling it a sprain."

"Ray I'm touched!" Peter put his hands to his chest dramatically. "You never lie! I'm so proud!"

"Sleep." Ray tossed a blanket over Peter. He wanted to be angry but all he could do was smile, it was nice to hear Peter sounding like his old self again. "Just get some rest. Laying on that cold wet floor all night could make you sick. No one will be able to handle it if you're both injured AND sick."

"You always were so compassionate Ray."

"Uh-huh." Ray made his way back toward the bunk room doorway. "Just remember, if we called on a bust it'll be Janine who takes care of you, and she might actually 'take care of you' if you get on her nerves!"

"Thanks for the warning."

"Get some sleep. I'll be in the basement."

"Cool. I'll be here."

Ray wandered heavily down the stairs in a lumbering, inelegant mannered as he returned his focus on the all important generators in the basement. As tired as he was his mind was racing too much to lay down and rest properly.

"Paige." Ray greeted as he entered the basement and looked over her finished work. "I see all five generators are still in tact. How's the power supply?"

"Stable." Paige had hung up the lab coat she had been wearing and was now simply examining her previous work for an potential flaws. "If you'd like to test the other generators they are ready to go, Dr. Stantz."

"Maybe later." Ray was too worn out to think about another test run. "As long as everything is under control and there's no risk of an explosions, I think it's safe to call it a good day's work. Also, call me Ray."

"I'm glad that I could be of assistance." Paige yawned and took off her red framed glasses to rub at her dry eyes as she hid her amusement as Ray's response was exactly as Janine said it would be. "If you no longer require my presence I'll take my leave."

"You don't have to go." Ray was reluctant to let anyone leave the firehouse. His instincts told him that she was still a very necessary member of the team. "I'd prefer it if you stayed a while longer. I'm going to need help identifying the most properly suited locations to place the generators throughout the city. Not to mention keeping close tabs on Peter, he had kind of a rough night."

Paige replaced her glasses and locked eyes with her newly acquired colleague. Choosing to ignore the comment about Peter she stayed focused on Ray himself. "Very well, what time would you like me to return?"

"Actually, I was thinking you could just stay here. There's a fifth bed up in the bunk room. Sometimes Janine would use it when we were swamped and she got stuck working late."

"I appreciate the offer, but-"

"There's also the couch!" Ray interjected hoping the second suggestion would be more tempting. "It's old but it's still comfortable."

Paige could see that Ray wasn't going to back down and finally accepted his kind gesture. "Okay then, Ray, I'll stay."

"Great! Come on, we get a couple hours sleep and get right back to work." Ray motioned for Paige to walk up the stairs with him. "By nightfall we should be well on our way to protecting this city on a level never seen before!"

Paige had been dozing peacefully on the couch in the rec room for almost six hours, her glasses folded neatly on the large table across from the couch and the green blouse that she had worn over her black tank top was now draped over her like a blanket. It was nearing eight in the evening and the Ghostbusters were beginning to rouse from their own sleep.

The all too distinct feeling that someone was watching her stirred Paige from her sleep. Opening her eyes she saw a blurry figure sitting on the coffee table staring intently at her.

"What are you doing?" She asked alarmed as she bolted upright on the couch. It took her a moment to regain her bearings as she suddenly remembered where she was. "Why are you staring at me?"

Peter was holding her glasses and twirling the item between his fingertips. "Because I'm trying to figure you out, Lizzy. I'm trying to get a 'read' if you will."

"What do you want to understand?" She tried to snatch her glasses from Peter's hands but he pulled them away from her grasp.

"You seem like a being that's all about logic and reason," Peter started as he continued to play with her glasses. "I offered you, you a gifted young physicist, the chance to work with us, us Ghostbusters who are a prestigious and unique group of scientists who specialize in particle physics and you hesitate for a whole week before answering. You are clearly interested in our work yet you try to come off as disinterested or even indifferent which I can't even begin to understand why, but," he stopped twirling her glasses and held them out to her. "what I really don't understand is this. You wear alot of green and black, but your glasses are bright red! Please tell me why you have red frames, it's killing me to not know."

Paige opened her hand and let Peter place her glasses down into her palm. "Simple." She unfolded her glasses and placed them back over her eyes, her vision instantly clearing and allowing her to take in Peter's haggard looking appearance in full. "It's much easier to distinguish a bright red blur from a mass of other darker blurs. As a result I've never lost my glasses."

Peter thought about it for a moment before giving her an approving smirk. "Like I said, you're a being of logic and reason. But seriously, why did you take so long to answer my offer? You've obviously excelled with you work, going beyond Ray's expectations and that man is an optimist. Why play coy?"

"It's complicated." Paige refused to answer as she slipped her blouse back over her shoulders.

"So am I. Try me." Peter gauged her reaction and relayed the first thing popped into his head. "Parental issues?"

"Where is Ray?" She asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Here!" Ray called out as he fumbled with the many rolled maps of the city laying on top of the table in the rec room. "I'm just about to get started and would love your help."

Paige rose from the couch with the intent of joining Ray at the table but Peter grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Humor me. Why do you say 'no' when you clearly want to say 'yes'?"

"Why do you insist that you are uninjured despite needing crutches?" She retaliated hastily.

"Fair point." Peter released her arm. "But sooner than later I'll find out!"

Paige strolled over to the table and helped Ray unfold the maps. The collection of maps and blue prints had been acquired over the past decade since the Ghostbusters first began looking into the architectural plans behind the large apartment complex that had been built by Ivo Shandor as a shrine to Gozer.

"Okay, here's a map of the entire city," Ray smoothed out the map over the table top and used the surrounding maps to hold down the four corners. "and here's us..." He began marking key points on the map with red push pins. "...and here's..."

Winston's voice rang out through the firehouse. "Pizza's here! Let's eat."

Peter was more interested in food than the maps. "Thin or thick crust?"

"Both!" Winston showed Peter the two pizza boxes he was carrying up the stairs and into the rec room. "Come on Ray, Paige, eat first THEN we'll look at the map."

"Little help?" Peter fumbled with his crutches as he made his way into the rec room. "Hard to eat with your hands full!"

"I'm not feeding you!" Winston retorted dryly.

Peter dropped his crutches beside the table and clumsily took a seat. "I love you too, Winston."

Ray moved the maps aside and Winston set the pizzas down. The four unconventional colleagues gathered around the table and helped themselves to the fresh, warm pizza.

"Been a long time since we've done this." Peter remarked as he flipped open the first box's lid.

"What's that?" Winston asked as he grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza. "Eat?"

"No," Ray knew what Peter was referring to. "sitting all together in the firehouse."

...to be continued...