(All characters, places, and objects from The Real Ghostbusters do not belong to me. They belong to Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures Television. OC's are only mine!)

Ghosts of Venkman's Past

Chapter One

First Impressions

The Ghostbusters didn't get enough quiet time between jobs, but this evening was promising. Nothing unexpected, just another Thursday evening which included some ordered pizza and a sci-fi documentary marathon. Egon and Ray were enjoying the show while Winston settled down with a new mystery novel. Peter wasn't up for either and Egon reminded him there were neglected papers on his desk. Days before, the team had been gone a little longer than they anticipated, and Peter neglected checking the small pile of mail on his desk. It wasn't Peter's ideal evening, but he knew if he didn't finish the task, he'd be pestered later. Maybe later he could check his little black book?

There was a pleasant breeze outside as twilight slowly rolled across the city. September had been a little warmer than usual, but now it was getting cooler. Only a week ago, they'd been called out to Tombstone, Arizona to face off the ghosts of Wyatt Earp and his gang. Ray commented that it was the 13th, a Friday none the less, as they drove out to Tombstone from the airport. It seemed like an unlucky day for them except for Peter who was excited to be in out west and hoping to meet Dewey Lamort.

Nothing too extraordinary, awaited Peter as he tackled the mail pile. Just some basic junk mail, requests for services, and bills. There was one envelope that stuck out to him because the address label wasn't from New York. 2121 Phair Lane didn't ring any bells, but Kokomo, Indiana sounded familiar. Wait…he thought to himself. Wasn't that… He checked back on the label to see the name Ruth Teague. Now he remembered!

"What're you up to now Claire?" he said to himself as he tore it open. "You have your mom communicating with me?" There was one simple sheet of paper decorated with cherry blossom stationary and handwritten in a small, sophisticated script.

He read the letter which slowly unfolded into disrupting the peaceful evening. By the time he completed the last line, he was shocked and even sad. He plodded upstairs to give the news, but he couldn't think clearly. Memories came back to him from three years before which seemed longer than they should've been. It'd really been that space of time since he and Ray's last year as students at Columbia University, but he could remember it all, especially her, like yesterday...

"Didn't your mom teach you not to play with your food?" Peter wryly commented.

"Examining fungi is not playing with food," Egon stated as he picked another mushroom from the noodles. He put it into a small jar.

Peter rolled his eyes and took another sip from the glass bottle. The earthy vanilla flavor of root beer was a sweet change from the liquor he usually sneaked around in his pocket. With how slow Egon was taking with finishing his lunch, Peter knew they wouldn't be leaving soon. He slumped back into the booth and eyed his surroundings. It was more interesting than watching Egon perform surgery over his pasta. (No doubt, he'd ordered it because it had mushrooms in the sauce.)

The small restaurant had the familiar red walls, dark green upholstery and stained carpeted floors. Waitresses were bustling around with their trays stacked with water and breadsticks. It was warm inside with the savory scent of different Italian food which was comforting for Peter. It reminded him of his mother when she made different pastas for Saturday dinners; usually for the two of them.

"What did you get for Ray?" asked Egon. Now he was eating. Ray kept missing his usual eating out with his two close friends for over a week. He'd spent his spare time searching for a particular book in different libraries around New York City.

"His fourth favorite dish from here," Peter said as he pushed his plate aside.

"Chicken marsala," Egon said half to himself. The take out box was near his side of the table and he opened it with interest.

"Don't think about it," said Peter. He reached over and snapped the lid closed. "You've collected enough fungus for today." He scooted the box closer to his side.

"I wasn't going to take any," protested Egon though his tone hardly changed. "Curiosity is just another-Peter? Peter!" He noticed his friend suddenly wasn't listening to him. No surprise, a woman had just passed them.

"Wow," Peter murmured to himself with a dazed, love sick expression.

The lady that passed them wore a cyan blue dress with an A-line skirt and a black belt which emphasized her hourglass figure. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled into a low bun with simple hoop earrings. Even though Peter only got a glimpse of her face, he noticed her profile which reminded him of the classic beauty an old Hollywood starlet.

The lady made her way to an empty table and sat down, her back facing them. Just when Peter had started to rise up and make his way over to her, a man came up and sat with her. He had a navy blue suit and plastered blonde hair. Peter sank back. Of course she'd already have a boyfriend. Well, it certainly wouldn't take too long to notice another lovely woman…or so he thought.

It was almost frustrating throughout the afternoon that he couldn't stop thinking of her. It'd only been twice when after seeing an interesting lady that he couldn't shake the image out of his mind. It looked like she'd be the third. Give it until tomorrow and things would be back to normal again.

Things calmed down into the early evening. Since Egon had already graduated with two PhDs in Applied Physics and Parapsychology he was working for Columbia in paranormal experiences. Though he had an incredibly high IQ and graduated quicker than an average student would, some professors found his work questionable. (He and Peter had to meet with one of the departments earlier that day because they had inquiries for his projects.) He worked in the Paranormal Studies Laboratory in Weaver Hall with his name printed on the glass door. It appeared more as a basement than an official lab with the sparse lighting and stale scent. Since Ray and Peter were attending Columbia, even though it was currently June, they made themselves at home. Anyone who knew Egon would be aware that he didn't read Captain Steel comic books or have a full body poster of Marilyn Monroe. Besides, there was promise that if all went well they could work along with Egon after getting their doctorates in Parapsychology.

Egon and Ray were spending their evening looking over notes for some prototype they wanted to build. Peter ignored their technical talk and with feet propped on his desk, read the newspaper. He skipped the boring columns of economics and went straight to the sports section. He took off his tie and tossed it to the desk where he left his blazer. He was vaguely aware of the soft knock on the office door and Ray's quick footsteps to answer.

"Oh hi Claire," said Ray being his usual friendly self. "Come on in."

"I found the book," said a voice with some triumph. "I was having lunch with one of my co-workers and he said he just returned this to the library. I thought I'd check it out for you."

"Gee thanks," Ray said taking the thickly bound book. "I was worried I'd be waiting two weeks and-Oh! Sorry! Where are my manners? Hey guys. This is Claire Teague. She's the one I met at the library. Claire, these are my good friends. That's Egon and Peter's hiding behind the newspaper."

Right on cue, Peter's eyes lazily looked over his newspaper and his heart skipped several beats! Be it fate, luck or even a miracle, there she was! No mistaking it, the same lady from the restaurant was there in Weaver Hall. Having heard that she was with a co-worker and not a boyfriend made Peter all the more pleased. Egon took little notice, but Peter scrambled from his chair, newspaper tumbling to the floor and turned on his charm.

"Well hello," Peter said smoothly. He leaned against the bookshelf, chin resting on his palm and eyes gazing into hers. "I'm Peter Venkman-uh, soon to be Dr. Peter Venkman."

"Hi," Claire said politely. She turned back to Ray and stepped closer to him. "So are you finally going to tell me why you were looking for this book?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," continued Ray as he flipped to the first page with interest.

"Tell me" said Claire with a smile. "You said you're earning a doctorate in...you said, Parapsychology?"

Peter tuned out Ray's explanation as he leaned back against the bookshelf and took in Claire's beauty. Her eyes were cornflower blue which complemented her hair color. She was a perfect combination of actresses he liked from past and recent: the round face Jessica Lange, the defined bow shaped lips of Grace Kelly, the smile of Michelle Pfeiffer and the classic hourglass figure of Marilyn Monroe. He could say perhaps even a tad more voluptuous since she wasn't as thin as a rail. When Claire sat in one of the metal chairs next to Ray, she crossed her shapely legs.

Gorgeous, Peter thought. He really hoped she was single. No chance Ray was dating her since he had just been asked out by another classmate. He'd been so wrapped into his thoughts that he didn't hear Ray's conversation end. It hadn't been long, probably two minutes. Claire looked at Peter and then back to his desk.

"What about you?" Claire said to him. "You've got some type of box on your desk."

"You don't want to know," Egon said with some disdain.

"Have you ever heard of the ESP test?" Peter said giving his friendly tone.

"No," Claire simply said with a head shake.

"It stands for extra sensory perception," Peter continued. "Guess you could say it's to figure out if you have a sixth sense and the test is based off of the psychologist Karl Zener."

"What exactly are you testing?" Claire actually seemed curious.

"I'm examining the negative reinforcement of the ESP test with electrodes," Peter simply answered.

"Not even scientific," Egon muttered.

"How does that work?" Claire asked.

"Easy," Peter explained since he thought he was gaining her attention. For full effect, he leaned over his desk and started shuffling some of the Zener cards. "Every card has a symbol on the back and-"

"There's nothing scientific about it," interjected Egon. He didn't turn his back around from his project. "It's chance! Each card has a plus sign, star, square, circle or wavy lines. You just keep randomly guessing to see if you get one right. It's been discredited for clairvoyance!"

"Isn't he cute?" Peter smirked. "Doesn't have a doctorate in Psychology and he thinks he knows everything."

"It's not a bad idea," said Ray who was trying to keep the peace. "Maybe if Karl Zener had just done more experiments it could've been credible."

"I suppose that's what Mr. Venkman is trying prove," said Claire. "It just needs more testing and it could be a success that even this Zener couldn't achieve." She stepped a little closer to Peter. "Maybe you just need the right people to test it."

"Funny you should say," Peter said stepping closer to her. "I had one ditch a session tomorrow."

"She freaked out when you told her about being hooked up for electric shocks," protested Ray.

"She had another engagement Ray," corrected Peter almost through his teeth. He wasn't keen on Ray ruining his moment. He gazed back into Claire's eyes, getting lost in the shades of blue. "If you're interested in how the Zener test works, how about you be a test subject? I bet you're one of the smartest ladies around; you could guess those cards so easily that you wouldn't even get the tiniest shock."

"I have a high threshold for pain," Claire said after a pause. "I could be a test subject if it's after my work. I get off at five-thirty."

"It'd be a pleasure Miss Teague," Peter responded. "An absolute pleasure. Six-ish work for you?"

"That'd be nice." Claire walked around him for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Let me know when you're ready to check the book back in Ray. Goodbye."

Right after she left, Egon muttered something and scribbled another formula for the prototype. Peter playfully slapped Ray on the shoulder.

"What?" asked Ray innocently.

"When you said you met some girl at the library you didn't say she was a bombshell," teased Peter.

"I told you her name," said Ray. "We were just in the history section and I accidentally bumped into her."

"She doesn't seem to have the same interest as you," Egon said who couldn't help overhearing a little.

"Well no," admitted Ray with a shrug. "She loves history and I was looking for that book about ghost sightings during America's earliest years. So she said she'd keep an eye for it and I told where I'm at if she finds it. Nothing to it. It's not like I was going to date her."

"Did she mention being single?" Peter asked eagerly.

"I think she is." Ray scratched his head in thought. He noticed the gleam in Peter's eyes. "Oh come on Peter! Don't tell me you're going to ask her out after the ESP test."

"Very good Ray," joked Peter. "You catch on fast. You should've seen the look in her eyes when she said she'd volunteer. That's the look of a woman who's fallen under the Venkman charm."

It would work out perfectly. Claire would get all the right cards; she'd be smitten by Peter's "encouragement" to guess correctly and then a date. Who knew, maybe something extra later in the night? She seemed self-confident to have hinted being a volunteer. Peter already liked that. She didn't give off too much personality other than the first things he usually noticed in a lady; that being pretty and nice. Either way, the usual plan was already up and running.