The fluffy, white cat sat in Janine's chair and licked her paw. Every few licks or so, she would rub her face with the same paw. She was too well-groomed to be a stray. She conducted herself like a normal cat but she was far from normal. Gabby was mesmerized by her dual-colored eyes - one blue and one brown. This cat looked like something out of a magazine, something that matched the furniture or rug on one of the pages, assuming that she wouldn't cough a hairball up on either of those.

But no matter how pretty this cat looked, Gabby couldn't ignore the fact that she was not of this world.

This was why The Ghostbusters waited silently to see what she would do next. They already knew that she could talk; what other other-worldly thing was she capable of doing?

Ray reached his hand out toward the cat but Egon stopped him.

"Ray!" he said, "No touching the specimen!"

"I can't help it," said Ray, "She looks so fluffy, it would be a crime not to pet her!"

"Well, there's no crime against dangling the keys in front of her," said Winston. He took out the tarnished ring of keys from his pocket, which immediately got the cat's attention.

"Ooh, dangly things!" she said.

Winston shook the keys and the cat batted at them as best she could. She even stood up to do it as Winston held the keys higher.

Egon took out his PKE meter and used it on the cat. The readings spoke of definite demonic activity.

"This isn't funny, people," he said, "My spectral activity is off the charts!"

"Will you lighten up, Egon?" asked Peter, "This cat isn't harming anybody."

"Yeah, I'm not harming anybody!" said the cat as she continued batting at the keys.

Gabby felt that familiar chill from this being. She may have looked pretty but she came from The Demon Realm. Gabby had to step back a bit and try to hide her uneasy feelings. If she hadn't left her rosary beads at home, she would have reached into her pocket and fiddled with them. But she believed in justice. Justice meant that someone was innocent until proven guilty. That was true for ghosts and demons, right?

"What are you and what are you doing here?" she asked. She knew that it would take a while to answer each question but, damn it, she wanted those answers NOW. This must have been how Egon felt.

"My name is Marta and I'm an alp," said the cat.

"We remember you from Yasmine's apartment!" said Ray.

"And you're not trying to paralyze us or eat our dreams," said Winston.

"Yeah, what are your motives, Fur Ball?" asked Peter.

"I'll tell you EXACTLY what my motives are, Skin Ball," said Marta.

"Skin Ball… nice comeback."

"I've had it up to here with that old witch! I used to be her favorite demon, the one who did her so many dastardly favors. But then she tossed me aside in favor of Glibbus. Just because he's better at transforming into monsters than I am. She tells me that monsters are more relevant in her attempts to take over New York City. You know… because they're scary and such."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Marta," said Ray, "If it makes you feel any better, there are plenty of other scary things in this world that DON'T come in the form of monsters. Like death. And taxes."

"I'm pretty sure I can transform into an audit notice just fine."

"Can we see you do that?" asked Peter, "I just want to make sure that you're an actual shape-shifting demon and not your basic run-of-the-mill talking cat."

Immediately, the fluffy cat shapeshifted into a piece of paper. Peter picked up the piece of paper. It was convincing enough that it looked like it COULD come from the US government. Once Peter skimmed through it, his eyes widened and his body became stiff as a plank of wood.

"AAAAHHH!" he screamed, "How could I possibly owe that much?!" Peter looked remarkably close to sitting in a fetal position and sucking his thumb.

"Peter, it's not real," said Egon.

"Oh, well… that's pretty darn impressive."

Winston laughed.

"She got you, Peter!" he said.

Peter placed the notice back on the table. The piece of paper transformed back into a fluffy cat.

"Does this mean you're not going back to Yasmine?" asked Gabby.

"Yasmine can go suck eggs!" she said, "I'd rather go somewhere I'm appreciated!"

"As impressive as that was, bringing nightmares into the real world isn't really appreciated by anyone," said Egon.

"Don't you see, Egon?" said Ray, "We have this golden opportunity! What we have here is a demon who was close enough to our enemy that she can help us!"

"Yeah, I mean… I now officially hate that witch as much as you guys," said Marta, "Possibly even more since she liked me at first. By joining your side, she'll be having the last laugh."

"Well, since you're here, maybe you can answer some more questions," said Egon.

Marta wilted and gave big, watery eyes of fear pointed directly at Egon. "You're not going to torture me if I answer wrong, will you?"

"No, of course not."

"Phew." Marta wiped her forehead with her paw, which didn't make sense since cats didn't even sweat from that part of the body.

"We went to the mayor and tried getting him to help us with fighting off The Ruckus that will take place."

"So? Did you get far?"

"Unfortunately, no. He seems to think that this will only be a minor incident."

"Yasmine would be delighted to hear that. She's planning on sending thousands of us to the Real World in order to wreak our havoc."

"And it's only now that we learn this…" said Egon.

Gabby was not as quick to trust this demon. There was something about her that still felt… evil. But maybe demons always emanated that, even if they were trying to be good. She didn't know. Slimer was the only good demon she knew of and she felt comfortable around him. Maybe the disappearance of wickedness was like the sun going out in that it would take eight minutes for anybody to notice. Either way, this was one of those times where she didn't like how her body had an inner-PKE meter.

"Why is she doing this?" asked Gabby, "What's the point? Why would she need to send them several days before Halloween as well as on Halloween?"

"Frankly, I don't know," said Marta, "Maybe it's to do something in preparation for the Halloween attack? Or maybe she just wants to have a little fun. We alps like screwing things up."

"Which is why, just in case, I want to keep you in a spectral sphere to ensure that you won't get up to any mischief or run back to Yasmine," said Egon.

Marta's dual-colored eyes gave a stare of cute annoyance. "What, you don't trust me?"

"No, I don't. You're a sleep paralysis demon. Nobody in their right mind would trust you."

Well, at least Egon felt the same way as Gabby did.

"Well, you're at least honest," said Marta. "Can I at least relax in my demon form?"

"I don't see why not," said Ray.

Marta then did something that immediately gave her away as NOT being a cat: She stood up and stretched her arms out in a Y-shape while yawning - much like a human would. She then glowed and shapeshifted until she became twice the size she was before. When she was done transforming, she resembled a typical alp - reptilian, long legs, long arms, horns, donkey-like ears. Of course, she also had her differences: she was white in color, her wings were moth wings instead of bird or bat wings, she had fluffy hair on her chest along with a fluffy main going down her neck. Her horns were slightly smaller but looked sharp and polished. If the demon realm had shampoo commercials, she would no doubt be in one. The one thing that stayed the same during the transformation was the color of her eyes.

Of course, it would be a cold day in Hell before Gabby could admit that anything that came from The Demon Realm looked pretty.

During that time, Egon went and got his spectral sphere gun. He aimed the gun at the demon and clicked it.

"Wait, Egon!" said Ray.

"What is it?" asked Egon.

"We could use her in the testing of our new proton gun! We could shoot her, suck her into a trap and then release her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Marta, "I didn't sign up to be a test subject! I'm not doing this unless there's something in it for me!"

Just then, Peter got excited.

"Okay, stay with me here," he said, "How about… a chicken parmesan sandwich from Mama Bianca's?"

Marta cocked her head and gave a quizzical look.

"A sandwich?" she said, "That's what you're bribing me with?"

"Not just any sandwich, my demonic friend. The best chicken parmesan sandwich this side of Little Italy. And it could be ALL YOURS if we use you as our guinea pig. What do you say?" Peter was very clearly channeling his salesman father with his deal.

Marta sighed. "Okay. But this better be a parmesan sandwich that a human would sell their soul for."

"Their soul and maybe their first born."

Marta jumped into the air and flapped her massive moth wings in order to stay stable.

"Let's get this over with," she said.

Gabby, Peter, Winston and Marta made their way to the rooftop. Gabby had to admit to herself that, as much of a jerk as Peter could be, it was always good to have a persuasive person on the team. She wondered if he got some of those skills from the demons that they would catch. This led to her wondering how many people working in advertising were actually demons that hadn't been caught yet. Out of all the conspiracy theories, that would be one that sounded at least halfway believable.

"Uh… Ray?" said Egon.

"Yeah?" asked Ray.

Egon fumbled with his words. He was bashful in his request but knew that, like gulping down the worst-tasting medicine (with no chaser!), it had to be done.

"Well, er… I remember you telling me that if I ever needed to talk, that you'd be here."

"That is correct!" said Ray.

"Do you think we can do that in the alleyway?"

Ray didn't answer. He just walked toward the door leading to the alleyway, which Egon did as well.

Egon stepped outside to brick walls and trash cans. The walls had been cleaned of graffiti but it would only be a matter of time before somebody with a can of spray paint decided that they had an opinion. There were sounds of cars going by but they weren't loud enough to disrupt a conversation.

Lucky for Egon, he didn't need spray paint or marker to get his words out.

"So, what's been on your mind, Egon?" asked Ray.

"You know how I've been taking care of my son for the past few weeks?"

"Yes. And from what I hear, you've been doing an excellent job."

"Yes, I've heard. At first I was worried that there wasn't enough room in my proverbial world for such a big responsibility as a baby but what ended up happening is that I made my proverbial world bigger to accommodate him. The number of people and things that I can care about at once is not compromised."

"It's good that you've learned that, Egon. It's just one of life's many lessons."

"But…" Egon scratched the back of his head as he hesitated to get out the rest of his sentence.

"But what?"

"But as danger is inching closer and closer to our doorsteps, I think about what the role of a father is supposed to be. I think you will agree when I say that when you think of the word 'father,' you think 'protector.' You think 'strong.' I've proven to myself over the past few weeks that I definitely have nurturing qualities. But I don't know if I have the strength and protectiveness that good fathers are meant to have. Casey's never been in a situation where he's been in harm's way. What if I fail at this duty? What if I'm so focused on protecting other people that I forget about him? Love can be a curse, Ray - a wonderful curse. The more you love someone, the more you worry for them."

Ray had to think a bit before responding but he could always find something to say in these trying times.

"Well, I'm not an expert on this since I don't have any kids of my own. But maybe it would help if you stop thinking about it as specific roles that specific people have to play. Something important that you need to remember is that you and Janine are not alone in any of this. You never have been. Peter, Winston and I were there for Janine and Casey from the beginning and we remain a powerful force in their lives."

Egon put some thought into what Ray said. Egon thought about his blood relatives, how Casey hadn't even met them yet since they live out in Ohio. The other ghostbusters helped Janine whenever they could. If Casey had a concept of family, those guys would fit the bill. It was making more and more sense that they called themselves his "uncles." Casey was more familiar with them than he was with Egon's side of the family, who lived in Ohio and were only recently told of his existence (that was a weird phone call). Even when Egon wouldn't acknowledge his own son's existence, the other ghostbusters were there for the child - more like guardian angels than they were uncles. Egon couldn't help but get choked up, but as usual, he was good at masking his feelings.

"Yes… in that way, you really are family."

"One person can't do it all themselves, Egon," said Ray, "We also have other people in society who fill important roles, like teachers and firefighters and garbagemen. And who knows… maybe you DO have that strength that you so desire and you're just doubting yourself."

Egon chewed on his lower lip for a bit.

"I am prone to doubting myself," said Egon, "That I can't deny. I guess in these trying times, I should look at the bright side. Casey isn't even four months old yet, so he isn't going to remember any of the bad things that will happen. Through it all, I also worry about my… my…"

"Your what?"

"What IS Janine, exactly? She isn't my wife."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"No, she isn't that, either. She's the mother of my child, but what is she to ME?" Egon put his thumb to his chin. As human as it was to categorize things and people, he was at a loss as to which box to put Janine into. "Let's see… she's a coworker. But she's a coworker who is closer physically and emotionally than any coworker I've ever had."

"Are you sure she's not a girlfriend? You've been on dates with her."

"Those weren't dates!"

"Okay, okay, sorry." He then said under his breath, "I'm sure she would say otherwise."

"Let's call her my dear friend. My companion."

"Bang buddy!" said Peter from the doorway, "She's your bang buddy."

Egon sighed. "Peter, I thought you were testing the new proton pack upstairs."

"I figure that I can contribute to this as well. I am a helpful guy, after all."

Egon didn't have the energy right now to be annoyed with Peter. His thoughts were bouncing all over the place.

Ray placed his hand on Egon's shoulder and presented an understanding gaze.

"Egon, you're doing fine," said Ray, "In fact, you're doing more than fine. You could win awards for what you've done for the past few months. You know how much fun you have testing your inventions. Let's go up to the rooftop, shall we?"

Egon thought about how happy his inventions make him and how happy his son makes him, both of which were things that he helped create. The main difference was that Janine had helped him make Casey and the other ghostbusters were the ones who would help him make his inventions. In that way, not only were the other guys "uncles," but also "parents." Of course, he could never forget Necessity, the mother of those inventions. Both Janine and Necessity would be satisfied with his parenting duties at this moment.

As Egon and Ray went back inside, a rat popped out of one of the trash cans and looked around. His ears twitched like little satellites. He then hopped onto the ground and ran out of the alleyway.

That was when he transformed back into a gray and white cat.

"Hm-hm," he mused, "This is GOLDEN. I can't wait to deliver this information to The Grand Lady!"