Egon was sitting in the lab, amist his inventions, staring off into space. Janine was gone for two weeks, but it looked like she'd been gone for much longer. The way she reacted to Peter in the hospital room, and the way she acted when they found her struggling with the officers.
Let go of me! I belong to the DeWinters!
Egon frowned. Wasn't that what he'd heard her say while she was struggling. What was it she'd said, when she'd seen him. His mind raced, trying to remember what she'd said after she was in his arms.
Christopher, tell them I belong to you.
"You okay, Dr. Spengler?"
Egon looked up to see Aggie standing at the doorway of his lab. Aggie, their temp. Aggie DeWinter. Egon frowned. It was a long shot but he'd learned long ago with them, the long shots usually paid off.
"How far back does the DeWinter lineage go?" Egon asked.

Aggie looked confused. "Do what?"
"Your family tree. How far back does it go?"
Aggie frowned. "Pretty far back I think. I remember my grandfather boasting once that our ancestors could be traced back to the middle ages in England." She looked at Egon. "Does this have something to do about Janine?"
"What about brothers?" Egon persisted. "Lords, or some sort of title? One named Michael, or maybe one named Christopher? "
Aggie thought about it. "There were brothers, I think three, I remember my grandfather talking about. They were the black sheep of the family. I could find out for you."
Egon nodded. "Please, if you could bring the information tomorrow?"
Aggie nodded. "No problem Dr. Spengler." She turned to leave then stopped. "I almost forgot," she said. "Dr. V. sent me up here to tell you they were going to see Janine, if you wanted to go."
He nodded. If he learned anything after this ordeal, it was that it was better to deal with this now instead of waiting. "Tell them I'll be down in a moment."

Mrs. Melnitz met them in the hallway, when the four men arrived. She clasped Egon's hand briefly, then looked at the other men. "She's back to her normal self today," she told them.
Peter smiled. "Well, that will be the first and only time she's ever listened to me."
Mrs. Melnitz still looked worried. "Janine said she's been gone for longer than two weeks. She looked confused when I told her she'd only been missing for that long."
"How long does she think she's been gone?" Ray asked.
"Fourteen months. Do you think it might have anything to do with where she was taken."
Peter smiled at her. "We'll find out. Is she awake now'
Mrs. Melnitz nodded. "She's been awake and wanting to leave the hospital for the last two hours now. Go on in."

Janine was sitting up in bed, looking out the window when the door opened. She glanced over, her face registering a brief shock, then she smiled at them as they entered. "Hey Janine," Ray said, walking over to her and giving her a brief hug. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," she answered, smiling at the other three. "When can I go home?"
"As soon as the doctor says you can," Peter said. "We want you top shape before you come back to work."
Janine rolled her eyes, pushing her hair out of her face. "I assume you want me back tomorrow?" Peter smiled. "Actually, I thought I'd be nice, and give you the rest of the week off. Besides, Ray would kill me if I let Aggie off without warning."
Janine's face was blank. "Aggie? You've replaced me already?"
"Aggie DeWinter," Peter said, "The temp you called before you went to that retreat."
Egon watched Janine's face when Peter said Aggie's name. A brief look of hurt brushed across it, then was gone. "Janine," he asked softly. "How long have you been gone?"
She glanced over at him briefly, and he could see something flash briefly in her eyes; longing, regret, before she looked away.
"Mom said I've been gone for two weeks." she said flatly. "How long do you say you've been gone?" Peter asked, picking up on Egon's line of questioning. Janine looked up at him a long time before answering.
"It was fourteen months for me."
"Where were you?" he persisted. She shook her head, unwilling to talk about it yet.
"I don't know. Dr. V., I...I really don't want to talk about it yet. Maybe, later."
"I understand," he told her. "We'll get out of your way so you can rest up before you get home. Give us a call when you get home, okay?"
Janine nodded, watching each of them as they stood up to leave. She allowed Ray to hug her again, and smiled at Winston when he patted her arm. Peter and Egon didn't touch her, which was fine with her. Ray and Winston she could deal with, but she wasn't sure how she would react if Peter or Egon tried to touch her right now. Not with her feelings about Michael and Christopher still so close to the surface. She watched them walk out of the room, then turned back to the window.

As usual, Egon was in the lab when Aggie walked in, a couple days later with the information he'd asked her for. She found him sitting by the window, looking out, when she walked in.
"Dr. Spengler?" she said. He turned to look at her, as she walked further into the lab.
"I have that information you were asking about," she continued.
He left his spot by the window, to walk over to the desk where she had the papers spread out.
"What did you find?" he asked.
"Nothing much, my grandfather is still looking for other things he has around the house. He says he has a picture somewhere," she opened a book. " There were De Winter brothers in the middle ages, but none by that name. The closest I could find was a Michael DeWinter. He was a lord but his father was the major lord of the land." She pointed to a small illustration. "His father's name was Alec. His mother died in childbirth. From what I read Michael wanted to redeem himself in his father's eyes, so he was very cruel to the slaves and a harsh man. He finally fell in love with a slave named Magdaline. His father disapproved violently and almost killed the slave. Michael ran off with her and that's the last that's written on him.
"Do you mind if I keep these for a day or two?" he asked.
Aggie shook her head.
"Nope. Go ahead. And when my grandfather finds those pictures, I'll bring them in."
He nodded, already flipping through the old book. "Thanks Aggie."

Janine spent the next couple of days after she'd left the hospital reacquainting herself with the heavy bustle of New York and her life. A year and a half had been spent in quiet solitude where the nearest neighbor was on the next county. Here, there wasn't even space to breath much less spend a quiet day. She wasn't used to the crowds anymore. She missed the quiet, she missed the fresh air, she missed the animals, she missed the stars and the utter blackness of night. After the first day, she ripped the phone out of the wall, when she couldn't get it to stop ringing. Now, she sat in her living room, staring at the small computer that sat upon a small desk. She partically remembered the Ghostbusters getting it for her one year when Peter refused to give her a raise for the ninetieth time. In two days she was going to have to go back to that firehouse and back to her old job. One she had no idea how to do anymore. Half of her was tempted to call the firehouse and tell them to keep that Aggie girl that Ray had gotten so attached to. But she couldn't do that...she'd thrown away her phone.
But she still dreaded going. She didn't want to face Dr. Venkman on Monday. And she definitely couldn't face Egon. How can you face a man who was a twin of your former lover? Getting up out of the chair, she walked into her bedroom, and flung open her closet door, staring in horror for the tenth time at her wardrobe. All the outfits in there would partically cloth her. She'd be running around naked. Digging in the closet, she found a pair of pants and shirt. Those would have to do until she could get up enough courage to venture out into the city to shop for new clothes.

Monday morning came, and Aggie DeWinter was sitting at the reception desk waiting for Janine to show up. The guys had asked her to stay on until the end of the week, until Janine could get back in the swing of things. Ray had told her something of what had happened to Janine, so she figured Janine would probably be unsure about what to do.
The door to the firehouse opened and Aggie looked towards it. Standing by Ecto was woman wearing brown pants and a flowing white shirt. Her red hair just brushed her shoulder blades, and was caught back in a clip. She was looking around the firehouse slowly, taking everything in. It was then Aggie realized this was the same woman who'd greeted her three weeks ago. This was Janine.
Aggie cleared her throat, catching the woman's attention. "Welcome back." she said.
Janine walked over to the reception desk slowly, her eyes never leaving Aggie. She seemed to be searching for something. Finally she spoke.
"You're Aggie DeWinter. The replacement."
Aggie smiled. "Actually, I'm the temp. I'm here until you returned.."
Janine's eyes widened. "You're leaving? No you can't. I can't do this..." she caught herself, and took a deep breath. Finally she looked at Aggie again. "I don't know what the Ghostbusters told you."
Aggie smiled encouragingly, not wanting to alarm her. "Not much. But I wasn't sure if you'd be ready to take over your old job."
Janine smiled slightly. "I'm not. Would it be a problem to stay another week. I'm sure they won't mind, and I could use the help."
"Not at all." She was hoping Janine would ask her to stay, she didn't want to have to sneak around the woman's back for the rest of the week. Janine looked relieved. "Thank you. Now," she said looking around. "Are they awake yet?"
Aggie frowned. "I haven't heard them, and they were out late on a call last night."
Janine smiled. "Good. Then I'll make breakfast."