It was late, almost 11:00 when Aggie DeWinter stumbled into her apartment. She was tired, and all she wanted was to fall into bed and sleep until September. Which was a long time considering it was the middle of June.
As she passed her light stand, she noticed the answering machine light was blinking. She thought about leaving it until the morning, but ended up pressing the button. There was only one message on the machine.
Aggie? This is Janine. Congratulations, you're now the new Ghostbusters secretary. You'll start at nine tomorrow. Good luck, thanks for everything, and...goodbye.
Confused, Aggie stood there for a moment. Secretary? Shaking her head, she picked up the phone and dialed the firehouse. She'd better make absolutely sure before she got ready for hibernation.
"Where have you been?" he asked, not letting Egon stay in the very noticeable sour mood. "You missed a killer game. The Blue Jays lost again."
"I was busy." Egon stated.
"Too busy to watch the Jays get their feather clipped?" Peter teased. "Janine forgot to tell you, didn't she? I'll have dock her pay again."
"Don't bother." he snapped back, shrugging out of his lab coat and throwing it on the nearest chair. But Peter on a roll. He glanced over at Winston and Ray, grinning widely.
"It's so hard to find good help these days," he joked. "Especially in office assistants."
"Well, then try to find another," Winston joked. Egon had had enough.
"You're going to have to." he snapped back. The three looked over at him. "Nah," Peter waved it off. "I think we'll keep her."
Egon spun around, facing the three men, his blue eyes flashing angrily. "What part don't you understand?" he finally exploded. "You are going to have to find another secretary."
The three men looked at him confused. "What?" Ray finally asked.
"How can you stand there joking about this?" Egon asked incredibly. "She's gone. Janine's left us. She's not returning."
Peter stood up, ignoring the rising panic in his gut. "What are you talking about? She was perfectly fine this evening. She said bye to us after the movie and..."
"Exactly Peter, she said goodbye. She isn't returning. She's leaving with Christopher at midnight. Janine...is...gone."
Silence uncomfortably filled the room. The only break in the silence was the sudden ringing of the telephone. Ray walked over to it.
"You have to be mistaken Egon," Ray said, picking up the phone. "Janine wouldn't leave without telling us."
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," he answered.
"Ghostbusters," Ray said into the phone. "Aggie? What's wrong? What do you mean are you suppose to be here tomorrow? Who told you that?" his face went pale, as he pulled the phone from his ear. He looked at the other three. "Aggie says she got a message on her machine from Janine telling her she was to start tomorrow at nine here. She was our new secretary." He put the phone back to his ear. "No, that isn't true. I'll call you tomorrow morning and tell you what's going on."
I can't believe she left without telling us," Winston said, as Ray hung up the phone.
"She isn't leaving," Ray stated. "We'll go get her back."
"What's the use?' Egon said quietly. "She's gone."
"Not yet," Ray insisted. He glanced at the alarm clock by his bed. " It's 11:12 p.m. If we take a P.K.E. meter and scan the parks, we might be able to find the portal and bring her back."
"Ray, it isn't going to matter," Peter said. "Janine wanted to go. I'm not going to stop her."
Winston, who was throwing on a tee-shirt, stopped cold, and eyed both Peter and Egon. "So, that's it? You're just going to let Janine go off to God knows where so some man who happened to look like Egon can use her as a slave again? If this were Ray or I, would you let us leave?"
Peter shook his head. "No, but this is different."
"How? Ray asked. "What's the difference between Janine, or Winston and I? You'd use any means to stop us or try to convince us what we're doing was wrong. But you're just going to let her leave?"
"We are the Ghostbusters," Winston stated carefully. "But Janine has been here longer than I have. She's put her life on the line just as many times as any of us. Granted, most of them haven't been with Class 7's, but she has to deal with the government Burocrats, tabloid hacks, blackmailers, women who swear they carry at least one of our love children, plus ghosts, Silmer, angry customers, and us. No one else wants the job. She should've quit a long time ago, any other sane woman would have. To me she is a Ghostbuster and we take care of our own. Ray and I are going to find Janine. If you don't want to go, that's fine. But we will be bringing Janine back."
Peter shook his head. "All right, you've made your point. We're coming with you. Four heads are better than two."Christopher watched Janine walk out of the bedroom. Her hair was up in a braid, and she was wearing an outfit similar to the one she left in. She smiled up at him as she walked into the living room.
"I'm ready," she said. He shook his head.
"Not quite." He unlatched the gold bracelet off her wrist and placed it on a small table. "I told you, you aren't returning as a slave. There's no need for that bracelet."
He looked at her intently. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
She nodded, forcing any other thought from her mind. "I left a note for my mother explaining what happened. I want to go with you Christopher."
Nodding, he opened the door. "Let's go.""Anything yet?" Ray asked. Egon shook his head, his eyes not leaving the meter. "Nothing yet," Winston told him, catching Egon's answer. "You worry about the driving, I'll worry about the signs."
"One more sweep, then we'll head towards Battery Park," Ray said, turning the corner without slowing.Janine glanced around the trees, not used to being in the park this late. Christopher was busy setting up for the incantation.
"Time?" he asked.
She glanced down at the watch she'd brought. "11:46p.m."
He nodded. "Plenty of time. We'll be ready to leave in a moment.""I've got it!" Egon exclaimed. "Where?" Ray asked, taking the road towards Battery Park.
"Stay on this road, the readings are getting stronger," he glanced over at Peter, who was scanning the park. "What time is it?"
Peter glanced at his watch. "11:54p.m. We don't have much time."
Ray nodded, pushing on the accelerator. "We'll get there in time."Janine stared at the opening portal, hugging herself. Even though it was a warm night, it seemed to have dropped twenty degrees where she was standing. Christopher stepped back after making sure the portal was stable, and nodded. Then he looked over at Janine.
"Are you ready?"
Still staring at the portal, she nodded. He touched her hand lightly, and she glanced over at him.
"Remember, let me go in first, then follow only a few seconds after. The portal is very tricky."
She nodded. "I understand. When you're ready."
Searching her face for any signs of reluctance, he finally took her hand, and prepared to take the step into the portal.
"Janine!" Ray's voice called out. Janine broke free of his hand, turning towards the voice.
"Janine, we have to go now," Christopher told her.
Ray broke through the clearing. "Janine, don't go, we...oh wow." he stopped, staring at the portal in open amazement. His sudden stop cause Winston, who was right behind him, to run into him. He pushed at Ray, trying to stay upright.
"Janine, you can't leave," he said, ignoring the now clearing gateway. "We won't let you leave."
"I want to," Janine said, grabbing Christopher's hand. That's when she noticed Peter and Egon break into the clearing. Egon looked over at her.
"Please, Janine, don't leave," he begged softly.
Looking behind her, she noticed the opening had cleared. She could see Wintergrove on the other side. The place she never thought she'd see again. Watching the gateway, she didn't notice Christopher had now broken his hold of her hand, to confront Egon and Peter.
"Janine wants to leave. She said you wouldn't stop her."
Egon stepped towards him. "I changed my mind. She's not leaving."
Christopher refused to budge. "Yes. She is."
Janine walked towards the portal, entranced by the other side. She didn't even come this close when she'd tried the incantation herself. If she could only step through, she'd be back in Wintergrove. Forgetting Christopher's warning, she stepped foreword. Ray, who'd been staring at the open gateway since he'd gotten there, was the only one to see her.
"Janine, don't!" he shouted at her.
But it was too late. She'd stepped into the gateway, and it began to collapse. It was not set up for her to enter first, only Christopher. She fell to her knees, screaming and clutching her stomach. It felt like her insides were being torn out, piece by piece. Egon and Christopher had heard Ray yell, and turned in time to see Janine step in. Egon started to push past Christopher. "Janine," he cried out, stepping towards her,but Christopher held him back.
"Don't, it'll tear you apart also." He stepped forword, watching Janine. There was only one way to stop it. "Take care of her for me," he told Egon, then strode towards her. Egon knew what he was going to do.
"DeWinter, don't!"
Christopher stepped into the portal, pulled Janine up, and pushed her out, into the arms of Egon. She stumbled into him, falling into a crumpled heap on the ground, if he hadn't caught her. Looking up, she caught sight of Christopher inside the portal, his body racked in agony. She tried to stand, but Egon was holding her.
"NO!" she screamed, trying to pull out of his arms. There was a bright flash, then nothing.
The four men stood there, staring at the now empty spot. There was no trace that anything had ever happened there. Janine fell to her knees, releasing a blood-curdling scream. Egon slipped down beside her, holding her tighter, whispering to her. Peter looked towards Ray.
"We'd better get her back home."
"Peter!" Egon's horrified voice called out. Janine had stopped screaming, and was now clutching her stomach. A small puddle of blood was beginning to creep from under her. Egon looked up at Peter desperately. "She's hurt," he said. "And I can't find where."
Peter suddenly had a sinking feeling he knew exactly where. "We'll take her in Ecto. We have a siren, and we have to get her to the nearest hospital.