Chapter 29: Lightning Crashes

Garrett had finally made it home after being questioned excessively about why he was at Squibb Park after it was shut down. He rolled through the door with his basketball in his lap and his backpack hanging off the back of his chair. He closed the door slowly and made his way to the kitchen. He moved at a slow pace; something he was not known to do. The image he had in his mind when Raye confronted him... It didn't seem natural to him, but at the time, it did.

The wheelchair-bound Ghostbuster was definitely a believer in ghosts, but he seemed to have an issue with almost anything else paranormal. Even he knew he could be better at the job if he could actually see some of these other phenomena, but he knew people lie and can't be serious. He knows he's embellished things from time to time, so it wasn't far from possible for others to do it, and worse.

But then there was Raye. There was something about what happened at the park today. He could almost feel her anger at his words about Dan, but he then saw an image. It was a flash of a bunch of women that looked familiar. The image felt like he was looking through someone's eyes; that the image was not his own. He saw he was criticizing a woman with blonde hair. That was when that name popped into his head.

It felt like an impulse he had to act on and the names, "Sailor Moon," and, "Sailor Mars" spilled from his mouth. It was by far the most... Invasive feeling he's ever had. The next feeling overtook that soon after. Raye looked at him terrified. Like a horrible secret was discovered. Another image came to his mind as he watched her back away from him. He saw the original Ghostbusters. It looked as though they were standing on an airport tarmac. It was as though this discovery had been done before.

Discovery? As Garrett opened the refrigerator to grab a Gatorade, he distinctly remembered that thought. On top of that, he never remembered being at an airport with the originals. It had to be true then; those were in fact not his memories or thoughts. He was seeing and feeling Raye's thoughts. How? Was she an actual psychic? Was she actively putting her thoughts in his mind? That would explain why she knew…

The phone rang. He put in the bottle of Gatorade back and closed the fridge door, he wheeled himself to the phone and picked it up, "Miller residence."

"Garrett?" A monotone voice responded, "It's Egon. I've been trying to call you for almost an hour."

After last night, he felt very bad about the way he treated Raye causing Egon to berate him. After what happened today and now this, he felt really guilty, "I'm sorry. I just got home. I suppose you want to talk about last night?"

"No need." Garrett's head snapped up in surprise, "Huh?" "Garrett, we have a serious problem. Dan has an announcement he needs to make. If I understand correctly, Raye has also asked you to the Firehouse." He winced. Something was going on that he didn't fully understand. Something about Raye was... He knew it was sudden, but even after yesterday and the day before, he felt this closeness and familiarity about her even more so he felt...

Garrett sighed, "Yeah. Not what I wanted, but…"

"Good," Egon cut him off. It almost sounded like there was haste in his voice. It didn't bode well with him, to be honest. As a matter of fact, Egon had a different attitude since Lita arrived; it only became more noticeable since Lita's friends arrived, to boot. Egon concluded, "We're planning the announcement for 6 tonight. We'll see you here."

Okay, Garrett responded hesitantly, "I'll see you then..." CLICK! He pulled the handset away from his head and looked at it, "Did Egon just…" Indeed. Egon Spengler just abruptly hung up on him. Annoyed, he slammed the phone on its cradle, "What in the hell is going on?!" A flash before his eyes answered him. He grabbed the sides of his head and yelped in pain. His eyes suddenly snapped open as he realized what he just saw. It was a tall man in a green long coat trimmed in magenta. There was one identifying mark on him that was plainly obvious and he could easily identify…

It was a black baseball cap on the man's head. It depicted a certain hockey team from Chicago…

"No way…"

Ghostbusters HQ

5:30 PM

It has been hours since most of the team was called back to the Firehouse. Eduardo and Kylie finally arrived with Serena, Darien, and Mina in tow. Eduardo was currently having his injured foot patched up by Amy in Venkman's old office. The five of them explained what happened to Dan and Roland who were also in the office. Kylie was annoyed by the whole encounter, her still rubbing the cut above her eyebrow, "Why didn't you tell us? Did you not think something like this was important?"

Dan had just about had his fill of being grilled,"Oh, yeah, that would have helped my intro two years ago: 'Oh, by the way, I can throw lightning and call for thunder!' Do you honestly think you could have trusted me with that tidbit on your minds? You don't even trust me with hot coffee!"

"You should have told us!"

"You don't get to decide what secrets I keep!"

"That's enough!" Roland spoke up, "It's hard enough knowing what we do now, but let's not argue about it!"

"This is the same Dan we've always known," everyone turned to Eduardo who turned his head behind him to look at them in turn, "He could've done worse, you know."

"How do we even know we can trust these people?" Kylie wasn't letting off she felt absolutely betrayed, and by who was even more upsetting. She tried to shift blame for what she felt in the field learning what Egon had done for his part. She pointed to Serena, Mina, and Darien who had been silent the whole conversation, "What little we know about the Sailor Scouts, we don't even know whose side they're really on!"

Everyone in the office gasped in shock. Serena lost her temper and got into the occultist's face, "How dare you! All of us risked our lives to protect the Earth! I have been fighting evil since I was 14 years old! I've nearly died so many times I've lost count!" Mina tried to calm her down, "Serena…"

"No!" The young woman exclaimed, "I will not shut up!" She turned her attention back to Kylie with tears in her eyes, "Even when the original Ghostbusters came to Tokyo, they never questioned if we were evil! They believed in us like we did them!" The closer Serena got to Kylie, the more Kylie backed away, Serena's yelling getting louder as she inched more, "We would never harm an innocent soul, much like you wouldn't!" Kylie finally ran out of room and backed into Janine's cabinets, "If you weren't told it was for your safety! Dan was going to tell you now because your lives were in danger! But you don't care about why; you just hate him!"

Kylie blinked harshly at that accusation.

Serena couldn't take it anymore. She upset herself so badly through the exchange that tears streamed down her face as she turned to the office's exit and started running out. She could be heard crying as she ran out of the firehouse. Darian began following her out. Everyone left behind with the exception of Dan looked bewildered. Dan on the other hand, was angry, "Fantastic, Griffin. You wanna insult any more of my friends? I'm sure they'd fucking appreciate it!"

Mina was upset herself and took Dan's lead, "We just saved your lives! Why would you think we'd harm you? Was it because Achira fooled you, making you think she was your Great Grandma Rose?" Kylie was having a sensory overload. She wasn't sure to be angry or confused; it ended up being a bit of both, "How in the hell do you know that?"

"Solar Knights have a psychic link with their Sailor Scout," Amy stated as she finished Eduardo's wrapping, "She likely saw it through Eduardo's memories." She closed up the first aid kit and stood up, facing Kylie as she continued, "I understand the need to be cautious, but you can't always assume the worst. Remember last night?"

"I heard yelling!" Everyone came out of the office to see Raye at the foot of the stairs, a concerned expression on her face, "I saw Serena run out. What's happening down here?"

"Let's just say an incomplete thought just escaped someone's mouth," Eduardo stated, looking annoyed at Kylie.

"Hey, I was trying to take the rational approach!" Kylie said in her defense, "It's not like I meant to be insulting!"

Roland filled Raye in, "She questioned if the Sailor Scouts were on the same side."

Raye began to scowl, "I thought you were Egon's top student; don't you see we're not your enemy?"

"'Egon's top student'?" The female Ghostbuster parotid, "Are you implying I'm anything but, Firebrand?" As the two got into each other's faces, Lita, Egon, and Janine reached the bottom of the stairs witnessing the argument. Raye asserted herself even more as though she was arguing with Serena, "You betcha, Elvira!"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Dan's voice carried throughout the bottom level of the firehouse, the sheer boom making everyone jump, "I've had enough of this!"

Serena and Darien had just stepped back in with Darien ushering Serena by her shoulders. They stopped short as Dan yelled absolute anger at everyone, "Goddamnit! I've spent damn near three years with all of you and all you do is insult me and anything to do with me! Why can't I get any of you get the fuck along with each other!? What is the matter with all of you!?"

"You." The answer came from behind Serena and Darien by the main doors. Everyone turned toward the doors to find Garrett rolling into the garage. The sky outside the doors started to darken as light flashed outside the open door behind him as he answered, "You are the problem." A rumble of thunder could be heard outside as he rolled forward.

"Me?" Dan asked, anger telegraphing hard on his face, "And why's that?"

Garrett stopped behind Raye, "Because you were a liar from the start. From the day you came here to right this second, you've lied to us and told us nothing about them," he pointed around to the Sailor Scouts, "told us nothing about the things we're fighting, and told us nothing about how you're one of them. THAT I WAS ONE OF THEM!"

CRASH! lightning flashed and thunder crashed outside. It was true, "Garrett, I didn't know," Dan responded, "I just learned…"

"Spare me, Shannon!" Garrett yelled out, "You're so damn destructive, you lied to us to cover up the fact your girlfriend is Sailor Jupiter…"

"Garrett!" Egon called out like he did the night before, but it didn't yield the same response this time, "Don't, Egon!" He spun around to him, "You lied to us, too! You were my hero; my inspiration! Come to find you've been harboring this lie from us for years thinking we were all too stupid to handle it!"

Raye looked to Garrett with horror on her face, "That's not true!"

"Dan's lied more about it than anyone! He can't even be honest with Lita…" Lita immediately looked to him…

"Garrett," Roland picked up his voice, "don't you even dare…"

"He couldn't tell us about her because he's embarrassed to be with her!"

The room went silent.

Dan felt his heart nearly stop.

Lita looked at Dan. She could feel the sense of horror coming over him. He looked to her and knew it was out. She walked toward him, a sudden dark air surrounding her as she walked. Everyone in her way stepped back and those near Dan backed away from him, "So, it's true," she said in an angry voice.

Eduardo hobbled to her side, "Wait, Lita, it's not what you think!" She quickly reached over and grabbed the Latino Ghostbuster by his white T-shirt under his tattered jacket. She looked him straight in the eye as she growled in a low voice, "Back off." Eduardo saw the rage in her eyes, the rumble of the thunder outside adding to the menace. He yelped softly. She turned him loose, then continued toward Dan.

The world outside the firehouse began to darken more as Lita faced Dan. She started as another lightning flash came through the windows; the thunder rumbling much sooner than before, "Why? Why are you embarrassed of me?" "That was not what I said," Dan attempted to answer, "I said I was embarrassed of our relationship…"

Before he could explain more, Lita stopped him, "Of course! That's so much different! What is it? Is it my tomboyishness? Is it because I'm emotional? Did you... find someone else? Is that why you asked me that question before?"

"What?!" Dan was starting to panic. He looked into her eyes and saw Lita destabilizing before his eyes. Through his link he couldn't even figure out what she was thinking; the thoughts going through her mind were manic and disjointed.

"That's it, isn't it?" She accused. In the vague inner sight of his mind, she saw an image of him and Kylie at a coffee shop. Lita turned to Kylie and looked her in the face. With what she just learned, Kylie realized why Lita was looking at her. Raye and Amy also saw this and realized what was transpiring. All Amy could get out was, "Uh, oh…"

"Wait," Kylie held her hands in a halting gesture, "Lita, you don't understand what happened that night…"

Lita quickly snapped her head back to Dan as he circled around and backed toward the door. She walked up to him and pinned him to the fender of Ecto-1, "You had my heart; my loyalty. What was I to you? A rebound? Someone to replace Jamie?" Dan's eyes went wide and his mouth hung open. He didn't know what to do, but his expression didn't stop her, "After all of it, all I did was love you! You lied to me; to ignore me like you did, you had to!"

Dan was absolutely horrified; Lita's irrationality was spiraling out of control to the point of disjointed random thought. Every thought she had about his words spoken to Eduardo two days prior was pouring out in an unhinged torrent. The realization of how angry this had made the woman didn't solidify until she finally screamed out…

"You're exactly like Freddy!"

The Scouts and Darien gasped.

The fuse just ran out.

Lita screamed in pained rage as she grabbed Dan by his black T-shirt, balled her other hand into a fist, and hit him as hard as she could across the face. Dan sailed across Ecto-1's hood from the force of the punch and hit the ground head first on the other side of the car. He was unconscious.

The whole event played out quickly. Amy, Roland, Eduardo, and Darien rushed to the other side of the garage and all knelt down to either side of him. Amy and Darien checked him over as everyone else in the firehouse looked at Lita.

Immediately after she struck Dan, Lita looked to her hurting, balled up hand stunned at what she just did. She then walked closer to the Ecto-1's side and looked over to see Dan on the ground, unmoving.

Darien felt the back of Dan's head as Amy checked his pulse. Darien concluded examining him as Roland asked, "Is he okay?" "He doesn't have a skull fracture; he might have a concussion, though." With that, Lita not only realized what she did, but how bad she did it. She still hadn't learned one thing yet…

"Lita?" she looked to Serena and saw the pig-tailed girl's eyes; she was frightened. Lita looked to the sea of confused and stunned faces directed at her as she looked around the Ghostbusters' garage. The thunder was now directly overhead, the only thing in the silence of judgment she was receiving from Sailor Scout and Ghostbuster alike. Lita looked back to her striking hand, "W-what've I done?"

"I told you," Garrett rolled toward her, "you were gonna get hurt. Maybe now you'll listen." Tears started filling the woman's eyes as she backed away, feeling panic rise in her chest. She put her hand inside the open top of her uniform, rubbing her chest as she felt herself having difficulty breathing. The eyes on her were too much, "This isn't what I wanted!" She turned around and ran to the main doors. Lightning flashed as she ran to the open door out, her running into the rainfall and darkness soon after. As she ran out, Raye, Kylie, and even Janine and Egon called out for her, but she was gone.

Lita ran. She ran far, fast, and without a clear destination. Almost all her life, she fought; bullies, monsters, and even her own rage, loneliness, and sadness. Tonight, she did something she never thought she'd do - and it ripped a hole in her heart. Knowing Dan's past - even without him saying anything to her about it - she knew there was no forgiveness. She turned into the very thing he hated and in her eyes she became who she hated. In the rain and thunder she ran, hoping to escape the pain. Alas, in the wake of rage, that was all there was. Deeper into New York she ran, opening herself to the dangers Dan and the other Ghostbusters tried to protect her from. Atop buildings by the firehouse, shadowy figures sat, watching as the woman in the green and magenta suit ran down the street ignoring the cold wet rain that fell from above…