Summertime in New York City proved to be one of the busiest times of year for the Ghostbusters, and also one of the most difficult. The heat was one major factor but it was not to be dwarfed by the fact that the area seemed to be more populated with tourists and civilians mingling out and about on the streets. It was on a day such as this, deep in the humid heat between summer and fall that the call that would change their lives and quite possibly their careers, came in.
"Janine, hold our calls for the rest of the day if you don't mind…I just can't take this heat anymore!" Raymond Stantz exclaimed as he pulled himself out of the Ecto-1, slamming the vehicle's door behind him.
"For the rest of the day? I say for the rest of the week!" Peter Venkman added drily, from where he reclined in the passenger seat of the modified hearse. He kicked the door open but remained lazily where he was, sweat sticking his messy hair to his forehead.
"I second that!" Winston Zeddemore called from the back of the vehicle where he and Egon Spengler were beginning to unpack the Ghostbusters' proton packs.
Janine Melnitz sat behind her secretary's desk with her elbow on the desktop and her head propped up in her hand boredly. A rolled up magazine rested by her other hand along with a stack of papers and notepads with the woman's neat handwriting scribed on them. She smiled sweetly at the four men who had just returned from seeking out a troublesome poltergeist on the bank of the Hudson. They had been gone for the majority of three hours in the hottest part of the day and each were soaked with sweat and grime from the ghost's slimy ectoplasmic residue probably from the fight that ensued between them.
"How did it go?" She asked softly, turning around and producing four ice-cold bottles of water for the exhausted men.
"Uh…" Ray sighed as he ran a hand through his soaked hair and wiped his hand on the front of his jumpsuit. "Well, we got him…eventually."
"Great. I'd say you guys deserve a break for the rest of the day, then." Janine replied lightly as she handed the first bottle to Ray who took it gratefully. "How long had that guy been on the watch list?"
"Four months." Egon chimed in, carrying one of the heavy proton packs around the side of the Ecto-1. Murky looking water drained from the pack as he walked and Janine raised an eyebrow in worry.
"Is it bad that it's leaking?" She asked, pushing another water bottle towards the front of her desk and then backing away in her chair upon Egon's approach. He hefted the pack onto one of his shoulders and took his own water bottle before nodding warily at her.
"I should have found a way to better waterproof the packs long before now…" He muttered as he carefully made his way to the basement where he would presumably work on it.
"Yeah…Ray wasn't exactly expecting the ghost to throw him into the river. That poor pack was no match for the murky depths of the Hudson." Peter called from where he had finally rolled out of the vehicle.
"Thankfully it hasn't blown up…yet." Winston added. He eyed the soaking wet Ghostbuster still standing by Janine's desk before he grabbed his own water bottle and followed Egon to the basement to assist the scientist in his dangerous tinkering.
"That's what I get for getting too close." Ray muttered as he finished off his bottle of water and chucked it into the wastebasket by Janine's desk. The secretary smirked lightly and pointed up the stairs with a motherly authority.
"Go up and shower, Ray. We don't need you dripping all over everything!" She chided him as she stood up from her desk to head for the storage closet behind her. Ray muttered a lighthearted apology before he did as she directed and trudged up the steps to the second floor.
"Anything else get called in while we were out?" Peter asked wearily as he grabbed his own water bottle and headed for his desk behind Janine's. As he collapsed in his desk chair, he held up a hand dramatically. "On second thought, I don't think I want to know."
Janine rummaged in the storage closet for a moment in silence, finally producing a mop and a plainly wrapped box which she turned and set on the corner of Peter's desk.
"Nothing urgent today, no, but I did get you a welcome home present." She said with her lighthearted sarcasm. She pushed the box further in front of the Ghostbuster so that it would strike Peter's attention from where he had put his head down in his arms on the top of his desk. Peter lifted his head only high enough that one eye poked out from over his sleeve before he sat up the rest of the way and pulled the box closer to him.
Janine smirked as she moved away to mop up the large puddle that Ray had left by her desk. Through her swift motions at soaking up the water, she could hear the sound of the box being ripped open excitedly and the sharp intake of breath as Peter found what was inside of it. She finished up her mopping and rounded the file cabinets between her desk and Peter's to find that he had plugged in the new desktop fan she had procured for him.
"Aww Janine, you're the best," He said lowly, leaning back in his chair with his arms stretched behind his head to allow the small fan's breeze to cool him. "A whole day since the last one broke and I just knew I wouldn't last another one!"
"Yeah, well just don't let it break down again. That's three fans you've gone through this summer already!" She called over her shoulder as she replaced the mop back in the closet. She caught Peter's salute as she turned and closed the door behind her to retreat back to her desk again.
"No promises." He said lightly.
Janine shook her head with an amused smirk and relaxed back into her seat to resume her reading. As soon as she had found her previous stopping place however, the phone screamed to life. She jumped in surprise and then dejectedly set her magazine back down to pull a notepad towards her as she picked up the receiver.
"Hello, Ghostbusters?"
Janine's eyes widened at the man's frantic immediate response. She opened her mouth to get out a question but was interrupted by the caller's hurried explanation. When he paused to take a breath, Janine stopped her scrawling on the notepad to shove herself into the conversation.
"No doubt…that sounds pretty serious, sir. But can you tell me where this all happened?" Janine waited for the man to get his bearings before he finally responded. Her eyebrows shot up from behind her glasses in surprise as she jotted an address down. "Connecticut? Alright…but you do know we charge for the trip too…that's a pretty good drive…"
She hesitated for another moment, listening to the man's insistent tone. When he finally finished she glanced down at one of the many calendars on her desk and moved to add the appointment to one of the open slots.
"Okay well the earliest we can see you would be on the twentieth…" She started to say. The caller immediately shouted something into her ear and she pulled the phone away to allow him to calm down. "Well I don't know how soon the guys can get over there…hey! It's not my problem that you couldn't find us until now!"
"Janine, what's the guy's deal?" Peter appeared over the secretary's shoulder, his relaxation having been interrupted by the man's frantic call. Janine slid her notepad out from under her arm so that the Ghostbuster could see what she had written down so far and his eyes widened with interest.
"I don't know what to tell you, sir…we're booked as it is…" Janine continued to try and reason with the man. Peter finished scanning over the secretary's notes and then reached his hand out for the phone.
"Let me talk to him," Peter insisted seriously. Janine obliged and handed him the receiver, surprised by the man's sudden interest. It was very unlike Peter to be so involved in a call, especially after the kind of day they'd had out in the muggy heat of New York and the amount of time it had taken to finally apprehend the poltergeist. "Peter Venkman."
Peter listened to the man as he explained the situation once more, only interrupting him a few times to ask questions. When the caller had finished, Peter looked suddenly more alive than he had only moments before when he'd had to drag himself out of the car just to reach his desk.
"We'll be there as soon as we can, pal." He promised the caller lightly as he handed the receiver back to Janine who stared up at him in open mouthed shock. Peter clapped his hands on Janine's shoulders comically, startling the poor woman and causing her to slam the phone down a little too forcefully. "Janine…I need you to call the guys back in here."
"Sure thing, Dr. Venkman…but what's so important? That's a pretty long drive and I thought you all wanted me to hold the calls for the rest of the day?"
Peter picked up the notepad to read it again as Janine hit the alarm on the corner of her desk.
"I don't know…but this Otho guy says he's just experienced what sounds like a pretty nasty class seven apparition…" Peter trailed off as Winston and Egon raced up from the basement. Egon had a frustrated look on his face and a wrench clenched in his fist as he came within earshot of what Peter and Janine were saying.
"Class Seven?" Winston repeated hollowly, a distant look on his face. Egon reached Peter's side and set the wrench on Janine's desk as he took the notepad from his colleague. His eyes widened worriedly behind his glasses as he read Janine's notes from the phone call. When he finished, he looked at Peter and shook his head in disbelief.
"The only time we've encountered something as strong as this, it was…" He started to say slowly. He tore his gaze away from Peter to find that Ray stood at the top of the staircase in a clean change of clothes, a fearful look on his face. Ray finished his fellow scientist's thought with a worrisome sigh.
"Gozer."