Dr. Spengler sat in his lab working on a project he didn't remember starting in the first place. He knew he hadn't been sitting here when the ghost appeared. Egon stood up and turned around and found Janine sitting on the couch.

"I thought I was alone," Egon said.

"No one can leave you alone, Egon," Janine replied. "You'd get yourself killed."

"Yes, as Peter often reminds me," Dr. Spengler responded. "Where are the others?"

"Don't worry about them," Janine told him. "It's just us." She stood up and sauntered over to him with a seductive look. "We can do whatever we please." The red-head placed a hand on his shoulder than let it slide down his chest. Egon's eyes went wide as he felt where it stopped.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Janine. This is not the time." He removed her hand.

"Well, at least I got the place right." She smiled at him than walked away and over to the bookcase. "You know I've never realized how many books you've got on these shelves. You read everything from spell books to quantum physics." The secretary spun around. "Do you ever read anything about death?"

"What do you mean?"

"Death. The process. What a person goes through during their last moments. Last words. Regrets. Wishes. How the people around them feel."

"I've read a few things. Raymond and I often talk about that. We have come back from the dead, so to speak, a few times. Memories I'd rather not relive at this moment." He narrowed his brow. "Why do you ask?"

"You can only imagine what went on in her mind."

"Dani?" Egon quickly said. "What happened?"

"Not her." Dr. Spengler watched as Janine began to transform into a larger figure. He instantly recognized it.

"No. You're in the containment unit," Egon said. "I'm not afraid of you anymore either." A wave of realization flowed through the man. "Oh, God. What did you do to Janine?" The Boogieman let out his patented laughter sending chills down Egon's spine.

"Fear, Egon," the Boogieman said. "I need your fear." Dr. Spengler dove at the childhood nightmare and it quickly jumped to another part of the room. "That's right, Egon."

"No. She's not dead."

"See for yourself, Egon." The monster pointed to the couch where Janine laid with a scared look fixated on her face. "Doesn't that eat you up inside. I know what she was thinking when it happened." Egon let out a quiet sob as he fell to the floor next to the couch. He took the red-head's right hand touching his warm one to her cold one.

"I'm so sorry, Janine," Dr. Spengler whispered. "I never wanted this to happen." He kissed her hand. "I love you."

"You feared this, Egon. You fear so much." Dr. Spengler glared at the giant teethed monster. He looked back at his still girlfriend and gently set her hand on her chest. Egon stood up and started to go towards the monster when he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder from behind.

"Hey, Egon, we need to talk." The physicist turned around to find Peter standing behind him.

"Peter, this is not a good time."

"You screwed me," Peter told him.

"What?" Dr. Venkman pulled back his fist and punched Egon across the jaw. The tall, lanky scientist fell down crashing into the coffee table. "Peter, what did I do?" Peter pulled him back up by the front of his uniform.

"You lied to me you idiot," Peter said. "You violated my trust. You turned your back on me when I needed you the most."

"Peter, I didn't," Egon protested.

"Shut up." Peter threw Egon back down on the floor and kicked him. Egon groaned in pain. "I guess our friendship meant nothing. I was just some pretty boy you needed to front all your crap."

"No, Peter. You're one of my best friends. I would never hurt you."

"Shut up!" Dr. Venkman screamed. "You hurt Ray too. You hurt him so damn bad. He won't even talk to anyone except to Dani and even than they'll just sit there in silence." Peter picked up a piece of wood from the broken table and raised it over Egon. The scientist cringed at the thought of what the brown-haired man might do.

"Peter, stop," Egon begged. "I didn't do anything. I never want to hurt any of you. You have to believe me."

"I stopped believing in you a while ago." Peter continued to glare at the man than tossed the piece of wood away. "Forget it. You aren't worth the rest of my life in jail. Rot in your pot of lies, Egon Spengler. You better get out of here before I call the police." Dr. Venkman walked out of the lab. Egon lay back on the floor staring at the ceiling. He started to cry.

"No," Egon sobbed. "This isn't happening." He could hear the Boogieman's laughter. Egon's head began to swirl like a snow globe that had been shaken up. "My head."

"Your knowledge," the Boogieman said. "You worked so hard to gain it now you're losing it." Dr. Spengler grabbed his head and squeezed his eyes shut as the tears continued to flow. "Just like the child I remember."

"Egon." He could hear the gentle voice. "Egon, look at me." The wiry man slowly opened them and saw another familiar figure leaning over him. A concerned look filled the blue eyes looking at him. "Not you too."

"Dani," he stuttered like a small child. "I'm losing it."

"You can't let that happen," Dani told him. She took her cousin's hand. "Egon, listen to me. You can change this."

"Can't," Egon replied. "Mind. Friends. Janine."

"This is not real, Egon," Dani responded. "Think about this logically. You can't explain it. So it's not real. Isn't that what you're always telling me?"

"Real," Dr. Spengler stated. "Real pain."

"It feels that way because you want it to. Everything feels like that to an extent." She was quiet a moment. "Nightmares, Egon. I can't explain this. You just have to fight it. If you give up it wins. You die and the world becomes endangered." Egon looked away from her to where the Boogieman stood smiling big.

"He won." Dani looked at the monster.

"No, he didn't. Everyone knows the third time is a charm." She got up and grabbed a worn paperback book off his desk. "Look, Egon, its The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. One of your favorite books. Recite a passage."

"No." Dr. Spengler shook his head. "I give up."

"If you give up than you're leaving me. I still need you. Ray, Peter, Winston, and Janine still need you." Egon shook his head. "Peter and Ray don't hate you. Janine isn't dead. I know. I can still feel them." Dr. Spengler sat up and winced a moment at both the pain in his as he tried to think straight and the pain in his chest from Peter's kick than gave his cousin a stern look.

"Stop it, Dani. You aren't going to be able to get us out of this. I'm alone. I've betrayed my friends and let my girlfriend die. There's nothing I can do. There's nothing you can do. It ends like this. Me alone. The way it should have been a long time ago. I wasn't meant to meet Peter and Ray. I didn't deserve their friendship. I drive them crazy with all of Spock- like logic and emotions."

"Get off that platform because if you don't step down than everyone's screwed. I need someone to believe me. It's the only way to defeat it. You're letting it win." Egon lay back down and stared at the ceiling. Dani stood up. "I'm not going to let you do this, Egon. I'm going to find us a way to get out of here."

"I highly doubt it. You're just going to run off to Ray and cry like you always do."

"I'm going to pretend that was you still losing your mind," Dani told him. "Because I know you'd normally never talk like that. It's just part of the nightmare. Yours and mine." She turned to leave, but she glanced back at him. "I'll be back." Egon turned away wallowing in self-pity. She walked on disappearing into thin air leaving the Boogieman to cackle at the sight of Dr. Spengler on the floor filled with an unrealized fear.

(There are still a few more nightmares to go.)