Chapter 30: Flames of Truth
From her office, Madame Holly sat at her desk and looked at a new set of photographs that had been delivered to her. In the dim light of the darkened office - sounds of rain hitting the metal building outside - she kept looking at the picture of a blue-haired woman wearing a white bodysuit and blue trim. The next picture was of two more women dressed similarly in different colors and skirts. Among them was a man in a Tuxedo and a man in a duster. What made both pictures odd was the presence of Ghostbusters with them. She switched between them, noticing more as she did.
In the confused flipping of images she knocked over her bottle of painkillers she was in the midst of using to try sobering up and lose her headache. She picked up the pills that spilled from the bottle and was about to take them when she noticed Matthew before her just as lightning flashed. She jumped, the capsules flying in the air soon after. She put her elbows on the desk and put her head into her hands trying to suppress the sudden pressure spike to her head as he spoke, "I'm sorry, my Gydje, but we have another development; she ran out."
Holly looked up and saw the look on his face. It was already the night to summon the book guardian, but there was a flood of information coming in on Matthew's special project. It came quickly, and it was opportune.
Perhaps it was too quick. All from various sources within the Order of Asatro, everything fell into place much quicker than any other subject they had researched. Perhaps their source that was closest to the Ghostbusters was too much so. Nevertheless, with the second part of the Symphony, this would give her and her congregation the breathing space needed to get the third part and conclude it all. No more Ghostbusters; no more guilt…
"Holly? What do you wish of me?" She snapped out of her stupor. She again looked to the man before her and squared her shoulders, "Get the North Shore storage facility ready. Give the inner circle members the special cloaks," She gathered another set of painkillers together and popped them into her mouth. After she swallowed them, and spoke with a rasp in her voice, "We will do the job ourselves."
Matthew's eyes fluttered slightly, "We will?"
"Yes," she stood, her gray eyes narrowing as she put her hands on the desk, "The Draugrs failed. Not even those things in the sky are stopping them. We have to take control now."
Dan was getting really tired of ending up like this. He again found himself trying to wake up. He moaned as his eyes opened, "Okay, this shit has to stop." He quickly winced as he brought his hand to his jaw; talking irritating his condition. He looked up to see Amy, Darien, and Eduardo crowded over him, "I feel like I got hit with a sock full of rocks. Heavy ones."
"Knowing Lita's strength, I'd say that's accurate," Darien stated back. Upon hearing her name, Dan came as close to full attention as he could, "Lita?" he sat up quickly, but lost balance. Eduardo and Darien grabbed him by each shoulder to steady him. Dan looked around and found himself on the floor next to the Ecto-1. Dan grabbed his head and groaned as Amy explained, "Lita hit you rather hard. It's possible you have a concussion."
"Where is she?" the disoriented man asked. "She was pretty ticked, man," Eduardo began, "She ran out after she hit you."
"She what?!" Dan attempted to stand as he began hearing arguing on the other side of the Ectomobile. Roland could be heard yelling at Garrett, "I told you to mind your own business, but you insisted on getting in the middle of this!" With Darien and Eduardo's help Dan leaned on the car's fender as he watched the argument unfold. Garrett responded back, "Hey, he's the one that decided to lie to everyone; it's only fair she learned that her supposed 'Boyfriend' was playing her like a cheap harp!"
"How can you possibly believe that?" Raye yelled, "You only heard one part of that conversation!"
"You need to get out of my head, lady! I don't like my privacy invaded!"
"And eavesdropping is okay?" she was appalled by the response she received, "You're a hypocrite!"
"Doesn't change the fact he said it," Garrett pointed to Dan as he looked to everyone in the room, "You all heard him," he then looked Dan square in the eye, "He said he was embarrassed of their relationship! Why even have her around, Shannon?" Roland yelled at the man in the wheelchair to stop, but Garrett ignored him, "Did you ever love her? ANSWER ME!"
There was a silence. All eyes in the firehouse were on Dan. Dan felt an immense pressure on him. He looked to Egon, then to each of the Scouts. When he looked to his fellow Ghostbusters, the fear he had locked away for so long came forth. When he looked to Eduardo, there was a look; a look that said he knew as he nodded to his superior, "Tell 'em."
Dan looked to everyone on the other side of the building. He took a deep breath…
"I met Lita when she was under age. She was 15 years old when I was first working here at age 20. My father was a closet pedophile."
Everyone in the room had their mouths open as he closed his tear soaked eyes and began whimpering, "I found out about it and he used to abuse me to keep quiet. He abused me physically and psychologically to keep me from ever saying anything. He was a sick man," He looked to the crowd before him with a look of extreme guilt in his eyes, knowing what was to happen now. He spoke in a voice that was heavy, "I wasn't embarrassed of her; I was embarrassed of me! I turned into him!"
No one saw it coming. Kylie muttered, "Oh my God," and placed her hands over her mouth. Even Garrett saw the man's face and saw that the truth was too much; now he knew why he was so angry and unstable.
"I'm a sick fuck just like my father," Dan concluded, "That's why I never mentioned her to anyone. I was afraid of what you'd think of me. I guess all of you were right. All I did was hurt her… and the team. If you want me to leave, I'll understand."
"Hey!" everyone turned to the voice that addressed the room, "This doesn't mean you're your father!" Dan looked beside him where the voice rang. It was Eduardo's, "If you were your father, you wouldn't care a damn about us! Any of us! I'm still alive because you take charge and do what needs to be done! As for Lita, you love that girl! Not because you're her Knight, or whatever; you love her because… Because she makes you feel accepted! Because she cares for you! Because, goddamn it, you're a good man! And as a good man, I'm damn proud to be on your team!"
"It's true," Serena spoke up immediately after, "Even if you weren't Lita's guardian, you'd still help us. When Darien was… hurt in the tower, you genuinely felt bad. I could see it hurt you to tell me. I don't know what kind of man your father is, but I know good people."
"See?" Roland added, "Like I told you years ago."
"Who cares what your old man said, man?" Eduardo grabbed him by his shoulders and spun him around to face him, "He's a useless scumbag that only cares about himself. Only someone who's worth a damn would put themselves after everyone. You love her, and you need to make sure she's safe, so let's stop this and go find her!" Dan looked at his subordinate. Even with the truth out, he realized what it was Eduardo was saying. This was what he needed: Faith from his peers. Eduardo stood up and said what he needed to hear. If there was anyone aside of Garrett and Kylie he was afraid of hearing criticism from it was him, and he just got the mother of all defenses from a member of his team; someone that even in the beginning didn't have faith in him.
He looked back to Eduardo and nodded, a look of confidence returning to him, "Right," he said sternly, "I'm gonna head out and find her." He started heading toward the main doors to his truck outside. Roland called out, "Hold up, I'll go with you!"
As Roland began to follow suit, Dan yelled out, "No. Throw a bag over your Mustang's window and have Eddie take Ecto-1; if we split up, we can cover more ground." Roland stopped short as Dan threw out more instructions, "I'll take the financial district; Roland, take Midtown; Eddie, take Central Park West. Take radios!" With that, Dan walked into the rain toward the F-150, disappearing into the darkness of the storm. Taking his lead, Roland walked toward where Janine's broken desk was and grabbed the roll of garbage bags that were in the drawer.
Garrett was confused. Even after all of the argument, him making his point, and even having his point exonerated, everyone was still on his side. He couldn't believe it, "He just explained why he's all screwed up and you're still gonna follow him? Don't you realize he's just gonna hurt someone else?"
Roland was walking toward his damaged Mustang still behind the Ecto-1 when he stopped dead in his tracks, his back turned to Garrett. He put both of his fists - including the one with the garbage bags in it - to the sides of his head and threw them down while yelling in anger, "Okay, THAT DOES IT!" Roland spun on his heels and started yelling at Garrett - the shift in attitude very quickly becoming unsettling, "I've kept trying to get you to see reason; to stop with this stupid vendetta you have against him! You won't see reason, so now I have to say it!"
Eduardo rounded the Ecto-1 and rushed up to Roland's side, "Wait, Roland, uh…" he hushed his voice a bit, "are you sure? Dan told us to…" "I know what Dan told us," he looked from Eduardo to Garrett, "but I can only take this for so long. Garrett, you took this beyond a simple grudge, tried to ruin a relationship, and potentially risked Lita's life! We know about your claustrophobia!"
Garrett's eyes nearly bugged from his head. He immediately looked at Janine and Raye. Seeing this, Janine shook her head as Raye immediately responded, "I didn't say anything!"
"No one else told us except Dan!" Garrett looked back to Roland as he stated that, "Dan didn't hit that gas pipe at the diner! I…" Roland hesitated a second as a flash of guilt came over him, it showing on his face, "...I-I did."
May 8th, 2000
6:37 PM
Dan groaned. He found himself on the kitchen floor enveloped in mist. He pushed himself up to find himself next to the commercial dishwasher. Shaking off the cobwebs, he remembered what happened, "You son-of-a…" he grabbed his thrower and stood. He saw both entities laughing and pointing at the fallen refrigerator. He cranked the thrower to max, "You done pissed off the wrong Chicagoan!" He opened fire and wrangled one of the two of them.
He called out for help, "Guys! Kitchen! I need a trap!" He looked around the fog-covered room, "Garrett? Garrett! Where'd you go?" he grunted as the one ghost disappeared and the one in his stream wrestled to get free, "Damnit, Garrett, you picked a hell of a time to take a sabbatical!" Roland, Kylie, and Eduardo came through the kitchen door and saw the situation. Dan yelled over the stream fire, "Have you guys seen Garrett?"
Roland fired his stream and helped Dan, answering as he did, "I thought he was with you?"
"I got thrown," Dan explained, "I lost track of him."
As Kylie prepped the trap, Eduardo commented, "Maybe he's dead?" Kylie threw the trap in the open and retorted, "Why not try looking for him?"
Dan rolled his eyes, "For the love of… Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?"
"If you cared, you'd look!"
Roland was beginning to sweat, "Can we just get done with this first?"
The second ghost reappeared and picked up the trap. While Kylie was distracted the ghost threw the trap back at her. Before anyone knew what was happening, the trap struck Kylie square in the head, knocking her cold. The trap clanked on the ground, Kylie following with a thud.
Eduardo jumped, "AH!" Once he saw Kylie go down, he immediately picked her up to check on her, "Kylie! Kylie, you okay?!"
Dan looked back, "Shit! Eddie, take her outta here and get an ambulance! See if you can find Garrett!" Eduardo did as he was told. Eduardo carried Kylie out of the kitchen and back outside.
"I'm going for the trap!" Dan yelled as he disengaged his stream. He ran back while Roland was still engaged, holding the spirit in place. Trap thrown back out, he activated the trap and caught one of the two spectres.
Roland powered down and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Geez, malevolent little thing, isn't it?" Dan pulled the trap by its cord toward him, "No kidding. It's friend is even more of a jagoff," He finally pulled the smoking trap from the fog covered floor, "What an asshole."
A volley of kitchen utensils started flying at them as the second ghost laughed and taunted the two Ghostbusters. Roland raised his arms and thrower to block the spoons and ladles as Dan used the loaded trap like a shield. The ghost started cackling at them as it levitated in front of the back of ovens. Roland armed his thrower and aimed it at the ghost, "I got it!"
Dan lowered his shield and saw what the ghost was in front of, "Wait!" Just as Roland fired, the ghost zoomed away revealing an exposed pipeline for the ovens. The beam hit the pipe shortly before Dan knocked Roland's thrower aim skyward. The pipe's red glow scared the both of them…
The pipe was fine.
After a moment, Roland and Dan relaxed, Dan letting out a sigh of relief, "At least you didn't ignite the gas."
BOOM! The red section of the pipe gave and now a stream of flames shot from the pipe.
The two of them recoiled in horror, Dan picking up where we left off, "Spoke too soon! SPOKE TOO SOON! Out-out-out!" Dan started shoving Roland out of the kitchen door back into the dining area. He stopped and yelled out, "Garrett! Garrett, we have a fire! Garrett?!" He quickly looked around the kitchen to see him. All he saw was the jet of flames and a fallen refrigerator. He couldn't see anything. Just as Dan ran out of the burning kitchen, the fog began to dissipate…
Once outside, Dan and Roland doubled over as the blaze spread. Kylie was being loaded on a stretcher into an ambulance, Eduardo at her side. Eduardo looked over and saw the two of them trying to catch their breath. He ran over, "Hey, you guys okay?" "A lil' shaken,'' Dan said as he stood up straight, "but no worse for wear."
"I severely screwed up in there!" Roland stated as he also straightened up, "I should have seen that coming!" He looked back at the blazing building, "Now look at what I did."
"It's okay, Roland," Dan patted him on the back, "Accidents happen. Happened all the time back in Egon's day."
Roland looked to Eduardo, "Where's Garrett?" Eduardo suddenly went pale, "You mean, you didn't find him?" "He's not out here?" Roland asked back. Dan heard that. He didn't like that, "If he's not out here, then…" all three of them turned to the flaming diner…
Dan dropped the trap and his Proton Pack, screaming, "I'm going in!" With no hesitation, Dan ran back into the burning building. Roland pleaded for him to stop, but his leader ran into the flames, disappearing soon after. Eduardo had his hands on his head, "Is he loco?!"
Inside, there was smoke. It was a hellscape. Dan kept coughing and calling out as he ran back into the kitchen, "Garrett?! Come on, give me a sign!" The kitchen door was now on fire. He kicked it open and ran into the fire's throat. He moved quickly through the room shielding his face with his arms. He kept calling out, "Garrett!" over and over with no response.
He turned to look behind him while still moving in the same direction, walking backwards. He called out again when he tripped over something and fell on his back. Sitting up, Dan swore as he looked to his feet…
It was Garrett's Proton Pack.
When he attempted to turn over, he saw it behind the large open freezer door…
Garrett's wheelchair, folded up on it's side.
The fire heated the room so hot it caused the fog from the open freezer to evaporate and reveal the contents of the floor. Dan stood up and grabbed the pack. As he put it on he looked around the floor for some kind of indication. He found a bunch of refrigerated food on the ground. He looked at the food, and then to the fridge. He remembered briefly seeing both ghosts laughing at the device on it's doors. Then it hit…
"Hoe-lee shit!" Dan - as fast as he could - attempted to stick his fingers under the device. The outer skin of the device was too hot for him to handle. He pulled his hands away and screamed in pain. He waved his hands around as he looked to the device again. He looked to his hands, then back. He had no choice; it was either his hands, or Garrett's life. He stuck his fingers back under the refrigerator again and began lifting it, screaming even louder as he struggled to lift the heavy device. He finally got the device on it's side and as it slammed down, the door opened revealing a sweat-drenched Garrett, him rolling out onto the door's inside shelves. Beside him was an active PKE meter.
Unclenching one of his injured hands he bent down and checked his pulse. It was there, but it was faint. He proceeded to pick him up, "Hang on, buddy, I'll get ya outta here!" He lifted him onto his shoulders. Just as he got Garrett up, Dan started to hear something creak and moan. He looked toward the ceiling and saw a fire-rotted support log above the both of them. He looked to where he came from and saw that the fire had spread, making a wall of flame.
The support above gave way. It fell causing Dan to jump out of the way toward the wall of fire causing them to now be trapped. The smoke was getting thicker as he tried to find an exit. Grabbing a Proton Canister off the pack with his burned hand, he threw it toward a back wall of the kitchen and weakly drew his Ectoplasmic Destabilizer pistol. He took aim. Due to his burns, he had difficulty shooting the weapon; the pain making it hard to commit to a full trigger pull.
Before he could fire, the ghost reappeared and knocked the gun from his grip. The impact irritated his injury causing him to curl his hand into a claw and hold it to his chest, sucking air through his teeth as he did. The gun hit the floor away from him and landed under an air filter/blower unit that hung from the ceiling of the kitchen. The ghost pulled at the ceiling until it gave in from fire rot and fell on top of the gun, bending it to hell and causing smoke to blow out of the device. The ghost pointed to the device halfway trapped under the heavy ventilator and laughed. The creature then proceeded to give Dan the One-Finger-Salute as it continued its maniacal laughter.
Dan saw the damaged gun and watched as he was gestured at. He was physically turning red as he gritted his teeth; he had enough, "Oh, that does it, asshole! That's the last cat you're gonna fuck!" Now ignoring his pain, he pulled the thrower off the pack and activated it one-handed. He pointed the weapon at the ghost as he yelled, "Egon's gonna throw a fit if I do this, but I have no trap, and you've Royally pissed me off!" He fired and ensnared the ghost in the beam. He concentrated hard into the device on his back and in his hand. A green energy started to loom around the Proton Gun as suddenly the normally-orange-yellow beam turned green. The ghost started screaming in agony as Dan laid on the fire.
The overload alarm sounded as red warning lights emanated bright flashes indicating the pack was about to explode. Still, the pack fired. After a moment the ghost's ectoplasm began to boil, puffing up like a marshmallow from the proton fire. The thrower tip was starting to smoke…
SPLAT! The ghost vaporized.
Dan quickly aimed back at the canister against the wall…
Outside, a fire truck and another paramedic arrived as Roland and Eduardo looked on inside the fire for signs of life, "I can't see them!" Roland exclaimed, "Can you see anything?"
"Nada!" the latino replied, "He's been in there for five minutes!" Right then they heard an explosion. The shaking and concussion caused the front facade to collapse. Roland and Eduardo jumped back as Roland cried out, "Dan! Garrett!"
"Medic!" a voice called from an alleyway nearby. A figure walked from the shadows with a person on their shoulders and soot covering his body. Dan emerged screaming out, "Medic!"
Lenox Hill Hospital
8:30 PM
Eduardo and Roland had sat and waited in the emergency room waiting area as they waited for Garrett, Kylie, and Dan to be discharged. The whole time they waited, Roland had his head down with his hands on the back of his neck. Eduardo walked from the break/vending room with two cups of coffee when he again saw Roland in the bench of chairs in the position he was in. He slowed to a stop, feeling the grief he emitted.
Eduardo didn't think the whole thing was a big deal at first, but he stopped and imagined if he was the one that caused the fire. He also knew how Roland was when he made a mistake. Before Dan came along, Roland was almost like the team's big brother; he felt responsible for anything that went wrong. Being a younger of two himself, he had a hard time thinking what it was like to be the one that had to always protect everyone, but since Dan came into the picture he saw a little better. When you have to look after others and you cause an accident that could endanger someone, you can't let it go.
The Latino Ghostbuster sighed and went to sit next to Roland, "Here man," he handed the cup to him, "Black, two sugars, just like you like it." Without speaking, Roland looked to the cup being offered to him. He sighed as he took the cup. He rested his arms on the tops of his legs and looked into it, watching as the steam rose over the rim. "Hey, you gonna be okay?" Roland looked back to Eduardo. He saw the concern on his face. Looking back to his cup he sighed again, "I don't know."
"Mr. Jackson? Mr. Rivera?" The two of them sat up and looked behind them to the double doors that led to the emergency ward. Roland immediately stood up, "Yes?" They saw a nurse standing in the doorway. He waved them back, "Mr. Shannon is clear to see you."
Inside the examination room Dan had his suit's top portion down with the doctor using her stethoscope under his shirt. His hands were bandaged up at his fingertips and his palms. She was examining his lungs as the nurse and the other two Ghostbusters entered. She had just finished taking the scope from her ears, her looking to them, "Gentlemen, just in time."
Roland asked immediately after she greeted them, "How is he?"
"Second degree burns on his hands and a little smoke inhalation," she wrapped the scope around the back of her neck then grabbed his chart, "otherwise, he's okay."
"What about Garrett?" the engineer asked nervously.
"And Kylie?" asked Eduardo.
"Mr. Miller suffered from minor affixation and oxygen deprivation. He's been on oxygen and has been given fluids. Ms. Griffin hasn't suffered any neurological effects of her injury, but does have a large contusion to her head as a result."
"Wait," Eduardo was confused, "what…"
Dan cut in, "No brain damage, but she has one hell of a goose-egg on her head," the doctor raised an eyebrow at the man on the examination table. Dan took notice, "I live with a scientist; I'm used to translating."
"Otherwise, all of them can be discharged in a bit. Just let me sign off on the paperwork, and you'll be free to go." Dan proceeded to put the top of his suit on as he asked, "Hey, Doc? Can me and my guys here have a minute or two alone? Just the three of us?" She nodded, "Sure. It'll be a few minutes before I'm done. Take your time." Herself and the nurse stepped out leaving them alone.
"This whole thing is my fault." As soon as the door closed, Roland spoke aloud, "If I had just watched what I was doing…"
Dan sighed as he carefully zipped up his suit, "Roland, you can't blame yourself. You did what you were supposed to; you acted quickly."
"Too quickly!" He put his hand on the back of his neck, "On top of that I should have known Garrett was in that refrigerator! I hit the gas pipe, nearly killed him, burned your hands…"
"No you didn't." The man looked to his fellow engineer as he slowly slipped on his elbow pads. He refuted, "Yes, I did!" "No," Dan repeated, "You didn't… because I did."
Eduardo raised a confused eyebrow, "Wait, who shot the pipe?"
"As far as the two of you are concerned," Dan lowered himself off the table and got to his feet as he spoke, "I shot the pipe. End of argument."
"No, not end of argument!" Roland protested, "Why would you take the blame for this? I… Screwed… Up!"
Dan spoke in a soft voice. He knew this was going to be hard to get across, "When Garrett comes to, he's gonna be out for blood." Roland blinked, "What? Why?" Dan looked him in the eye, "You've never lived with a claustrophobic, have you? When they get into a small space, like an elevator, they twitch like crack addicts. When me and my brother went to St. Louis and rode in the elevator for the Arch, he started to panic. I rode in a small elevator with Garrett once and he started to do the same thing."
"But," Roland protested again, "why are you…"
"Egon put me in charge. It's my responsibility."
"Dan, this isn't Starfleet. You're not Captain Kirk!" Dan sighed as he looked to the floor, "Look, you guys have been working together long before I came back," he looked back to the both of them, "If Garrett finds out you did anything that put him in that state, he will be beyond pissed at you. You guys have a rapport; a team dynamic I can't stand to see broken. Let me take the brunt of it. He hates me anyway."
Eduardo didn't like this idea; not at all, "You don't know what you're gettin' yourself into, hombre. When Garrett holds a grudge, he don't let go."
"I'm the leader," Dan reaffirmed, "It's my job to take responsibility for everyone's mistakes, therefore, I hit that goddamn pipe. Both of you understand?" Roland and Eduardo exchanged looks. They knew Garrett much better than Dan did, but Dan was set in his decision. They both turned to him and reluctantly nodded their heads.
"In order for the story to stick Dan told us to not tell Kylie, either. When you were all released, we came back here and that's how Dan wrote the report," Roland concluded, "He took the blame because he didn't want the two of us to have a falling out."
"Roland," Garrett said with a nervous chuckle, "Big Guy, I wouldn't even dream of getting angry at you for that!"
"I knew that," the black engineer stated, "everyone here knew that, except Dan. His whole life he's been told he was a failure. He hoped eventually you'd come to see he had value and forgive him like you would anyone. So did I." Roland and Eduardo turned and walked to the two vehicles in the garage. Garrett was stunned. This whole time, he hated Dan. The bits of truth that came out over the last few days revealed a lot of Dan's past, personality, and mindset. He kept a hold of his hatred despite things that told him Dan didn't want to be evil, hurtful, or even apathetic. Dan took heat in the worst way he could, but Garrett wasn't satisfied or convinced. Now he knew: There was nothing to get back at him for.
Eduardo opened the door to Ecto-1, but before he stepped in, he stated, "You know, Dan cares about that girl quite a bit. If they split because of what you did, you're screwed."
"It's worse than that, Eduardo," Amy spoke up. Egon approached behind her to finish her sentence, "She's correct. The creatures are specifically targeting Lita. For what reason, we don't know. It's possible they want to harm her, or even use her as a sacrifice." Some of the Sailor Scouts gasped at that as all eyes in the room looked to Garrett. The weight of it all finally hit him, "Oh my God. Roland, how can you ever forgive me?"
Roland had resumed covering his broken Mustang window, "It's not my forgiveness you need." Garrett looked to Egon, "Egon, I didn't know! You're not angry at me, are you?"
Egon looked his student in the eye as he said it, "I'm much more than that, Garrett," he turned to walk up the stairs, "I'm disappointed in you." Roland finished patching his window and stepped into the car. Both the Mustang and the Ecto-1 started up as everyone else adjourned with Egon up stairs, "Come on, everyone," Janine announced openly, "we'll stay here in case Lita comes back."
Kylie stayed behind with Garrett. She watched as both vehicles pulled into the rain and took off in separate directions. Lightning flashed as the doors closed. Garrett watched until the last. He sighed, "I can't apologize for this enough."
"Neither one of us can," Garrett looked to his side and saw Kylie, her arms crossed and eyes closed. He saw a tear form in her eye, "I liked him. A memory he had made Lita mad at him. A memory I had created." "I don't follow." "I asked him out," she croaked, "a few days before the diner fire. That's why… why…" She couldn't say it. She ran to the basement stairs, leaving Garrett alone. He was still confused, "I don't get it."
"Dan rejected Kylie." Garrett looked to the voice. Raye walked back down the stairs, "Lita gets very emotional over men and falls for them hard. I'm not entirely sure what happened tonight, but she searched his mind and found that memory from his perspective," she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, "Lita's had a hard time since Dan left. Her grandparents died and she lost her whole reason to love."
"She said he was like Freddie," he asked, "am I to assume…" "Unfortunately," she preemptively answered, "You may have ended their relationship."
Garrett became cross, "Hey, I was trying to protect her!"
"Oh, for crying out… She doesn't need your protection, Garrett!" Raye shouted, "You're a good man, but you need to stop being vindictive and acting like it was for her own good! I can see what you've seen, and all I see is a man who has gone lengths to deny his own conscience because of his ego!" Garrett's eyes widened as Raye laid it on, "He's saved your life and took the rap for another's accident, all in the name of saving your friendship with Roland! You can see into my memories; look at him! Look what he did to Jedite!"
There was a flash of light before Garrett's eyes. The image of Jupiter Knight pulling himself out of the other-worldly portal and taking hold of a ghostly figure of a blonde-haired man in a gray attire - of Negaverse General Jedite. He saw how Sailor Mars was bound to a wall with the other Sailor Scouts as well as the Original Ghostbusters. Garrett saw how no one was able to help Jupiter Knight, but then saw that Jupiter Knight didn't hesitate to sacrifice himself by pulling the evil man into the void with him.
Garrett's eyes opened. Raye concluded, "That's why Egon made him your leader," her eyes glassed over as a tremble came to her voice, "He's the bravest man you'll ever know. Work with him; he'll be your best friend in the end."
She turned to walk back upstairs when she felt him grab her hand, "Raye? She looked back at him, his blue eyes piercing, "When they come back, can… Can you be with me?"