Gabby went home that night with a spring in her step, or as much of a spring in her step as she could have while sitting on a bus. Admittedly, it was a tad awkward explaining to her parents over dinner why she was so happy. Namely, it was because she managed to get a Chinese dragon to vomit so that she could hit it with a nuclear weapon and suck it into a vacuum the size of a small Christmas present. It was worth it to see the looks on their faces when explaining it in this manner.
Gabby's last day wasn't going to just be another day. Her contract had to go out with a bang. The gang celebrated in the rec room with a cake and pizza. They had learned their lesson from Winston's birthday party and got Slimer his own cake and pizza, which he devoured in the corner of the room at his own table.
"You guys are so nice," she said in between bites of pizza, "I wasn't expecting this."
"Well, we had to think of a festive and delicious way to thank you for your work," said Ray, "I mean, you kind of saved my butt yesterday."
"As well as the rest of your body," said Egon.
"How many showers did it take to wash out all the funk, Ray?" asked Gabby.
"About three," said Ray, "And we had to air out the Ecto-1."
"Yeah," said Winston as he pointed his thumb toward Ray, "This guy apologized to that car so many times."
"You know I would never purposely put the Ecto-1 through such abuse."
Gabby turned to Egon.
"So, when Janine comes back, will she be replacing me as your scientific assistant?" she asked.
"I don't think she has quite the qualifications to do that," he said, "If I need an assistant, I will probably get one of the other guys to help me."
"I'd be happy to help, Egon," said Ray, "I just don't want to be a guinea pig again."
"But you make a perfect guinea pig," said Peter, "You're chubby, you're cute, and the ladies love you."
Ray blushed. "Well, I can't deny those things. Still don't want to be a guinea pig, though."
Gabby took another bite of her pizza.
"I'll be right back, okay guys?" she asked.
"Fine by us," said Peter.
As much as Gabby enjoyed being celebrated, she needed a bit of a break. She took the stairwell to the roof to walk around a bit and take in the sights. She had worked with Egon on this rooftop for the past month but didn't take note of the scenery. She wanted to take it in for the first and last time. It wasn't that high up. It wasn't like she had a good view of the skyline or anything, nothing that spectacular. It was still a height that humans couldn't accomplish with bodily growth, which was at least a small amount of spectacular.
As she stared at the tops of cars that zoomed around like toys, she didn't feel like such a small person. She didn't feel like the youngest of three daughters, the one who was always talked over. She didn't feel like the girl who formally had embarrassing braces that got her made fun of. She wasn't the one that constantly overachieved to make up for her being so small and unnoticeable. She felt like erasing that part of her past and embracing the future. If she could defeat a ghost, what else was next for her?
Slimer, being the curious floating stomach that he was, joined Gabby on the roof and looked at the scenery along with her.
"AAaaang," he said, "Ezuverveh?"
She couldn't understand what he was saying nor could she understand how people like Peter could understand what Slimer was saying. But she had a pretty good idea.
"Oh, nothing much, Slimer," she said, "Just taking one last look. Say, you haven't told anybody our secret, have you? You know the one…"
"Nuh-uh! Nuh-uh!" said Slimer. He turned his entire body left-to-right several times since he didn't have much of a neck.
"Good. At least I can count on you for something."
When Gabby returned, it was time to cut the cake. It was one of those small sheet cakes from the grocery store that had the words "Thank You" spelled out in purple icing. When she took a bite out of her square piece, it had an overpowering sweetness that was not asked for but very much needed. It was like somebody took Ray and turned him into a baked good.
She couldn't enjoy her last day without asking her supervisor one of the most important questions to ask before leaving a job on good terms.
"Hey, Egon?" said Gabby.
"Yes?" asked Egon.
"Can I use you as a reference when applying for other jobs?"
"Of course," he said, "I would be happy to put in a recommendation to any potential employers."
"You can put me as well," said Peter, "As long as you put the title 'Doctor' in front of my name. That part is super important."
"You always were so humble," said Winston.
When he thought nobody was looking, Slimer started to steal some of the pizza and cake, putting each food item in his mouth one at a time. His mouth was big enough that he didn't even need to take bites. He could just pile it all in there, not caring whether or not the pizza and cake tasted good when eaten at the same time.
But then Peter noticed and it was no more Mister Nice Peter.
"Slimer!" he shouted, "I specifically got you your own pizza and cake to ensure that this wouldn't happen! Why do you do this every time we have a party?! That's it… you're getting zapped NOW!"
"YAAAAAAAAAH!" shouted Slimer as he waved his arms.
"Get back here!" Peter proceeded to chase Slimer downstairs. "You're not getting away so easily!"
"Peter, stop!" said Egon, "We can reason with Slimer!"
Gabby was going to miss these hijinks. The most she could get out of her family's shoe store in terms of hijinks was that returned pair of damaged sneakers that she liked to use as a puppet for any visiting children. Even so, the shoe didn't have the flexibility to move its "mouth" very much whenever she stuck her hand into it.
And that was it for her stint with The Ghostbusters. All's well that ends well, as The Great Bard once said. It was time to move on.
The next day, when the commotion died down, Egon thought about the alp that was captured in the trap. This one was not only a shapeshifter, it was captured by the prototype of the proton gun that he was developing, the one that he hadn't quite perfected yet. The fact that he successfully caught the speedy demon with this version of his invention told him that he didn't need to perfect it any further. He could roll with this version and update the other packs to match it.
But did that mean that his work was done? No. Certainly not. There was always work to be done, not just on the proton packs but also on other devices.
Egon spent that morning on first floor of the firehouse tinkering with the PKE meter. Those things always tended to break when ghost readings were just one notch too high. There could always be a better PKE meter, he thought as he wiggled the screwdriver inside of the back of the device.
Janine stood by her desk dressed professionally once more. She put down her bag and looked over the desk that she hadn't seen in three months.
"It's good to have you back, Janine," said Peter.
"It's good to be back, Peter," said Janine, "And I see that the temp didn't futz with or steal any of my stuff."
"Nothing much has changed since you were gone."
"I mean, the doors to the Ecto-1 had to be replaced," said Ray, "Several times."
"Well, that's to be expected, really," said Janine, "The parts of that car have been replaced so many times that I don't think we can call it the same car anymore."
"We ought to call it The Car of Theseus," said Egon.
"Oh. Mister Working Man finally says something."
Egon looked up from his work to see Janine with her lip puckered upward in mild disappointment. "Like Peter said, it's good that you're back."
Janine turned back to Peter. "I never thought I'd miss doing paperwork."
"Well, the paperwork misses you, too, so you better give it the attention that it so desperately craves."
Janine sat in her old chair and booted up her computer. Before she knew it, the first customer of the day called.
RRRRRRRING… RRRRRRRING…
"Oh!" she said. She rushed to the front of the desk and picked up the phone. Except, she didn't pick up just the receiver but the base as well. She held the entire ringing phone in her left arm, rocking and bouncing it as it made its noises. "Shhh… It's okay… Mommy's here… Stop crying…"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Janine as she did this. Even Slimer couldn't help but watch. It really had been too long for her.
RRRRRRRRRING… RRRRRRRRING…
"Janine?" said Peter.
"Yeah?" asked Janine.
"ANSWER THE PHONE!"
Janine shook her head and snapped out of her funk. "Oh, jeez!" She set the phone back down, picked up the receiver and put it up to the side of her face. "Waddya want? I mean… hello. I mean… Ghostbusters, what's your emergency?"
"There we go," said Peter.
Ray couldn't help but laugh out loud, knowing full well that the person on the other end of the line could hear him in the background. He held on to the side mirror of the Ecto-1 and wiped a tear from his eye while he did it.
Egon went back to his tinkering. It was good that Janine didn't need to be retaught everything that she knew before. She just had to be reminded.
Meanwhile, at Raul's Shoes, Gabby sat by the counter with her head resting in her hand. She refamiliarized herself with the smell of rubber that she had previously become nose-blind to. The rows upon rows of shelves were holding boxes that were marked with their respective brands. The newest shoes were on display so that any customer could become aware of them. She didn't know what was new in shoes. She didn't care as much as her parents did.
Suddenly, the phone by the counter rang. She quickly grabbed the receiver and put it up to the side of her face.
"Ghostbusters, what's your emergency?" she said.
"Uh… I'm sorry," said the man on the other end, "Do I have the wrong number? I'm looking for Raul's Shoes."
Gabby could feel herself blushing. "Oh! So sorry, sir. This is Raul's Shoe's. I meant to say, 'Raul's Shoes, how can I help you?'"
"Yeah, I thought so. I was wondering if you had a particular brand in stock."
"Sure. Which brand?"
"Do you have any of the new Birkenstocks? It's never too early to get ready for next summer."
Gabby had much to readjust to as well. She was eternally thankful that she had this job but it was only there until something more interesting could come along. In order to get on her own two feet, she had to rely on a job that was all about other people's two feet.
