(This chapter was updated on Oct. 10, 2010 to get rid of dumb-looking errors and typos.)

The Damocles Solution, chapter 2.

Everything stopped. Janine went open-mouthed. Winston turned around and furrowed his brow. Ray looked up from the fridge, in mid-chew of a Twinkie. Egon returned from the stairs and leaned against the wall, arms folded and suddenly wearing a searing expression.

"Go on." Said Egon.

Peter continued, pacing back and forth as he read. "Jeremy was involved in a single vehicle accident on a highway coming back from work. I wanted to write this letter to tell you again how grateful I am that he made peace with his surroundings after the Ragnarock incident. Thank you also so much for not openly declaring him the cause. He already knew in his heart, as everyone knew, that no prison time could ever come close to allowing him to atone for the awful realization of who he thought he was and what he almost accomplished. He had disgraced everyone he knew including his beautiful friend, Di Tillio, and Jeremy's beautiful teacher who trusted him with such dangerous information."

Egon hmphed deeply.

"Please know that the last words anyone heard him say, even now for so long after the incident has passed, were: There are so many things I need to atone for. DiTillio, I love you. You will always be the better man than I."

Janine put down her book. "My god."

Winston sighed. "There are times that I feel sorry for the guy. But quite honestly, most times…I just don't. I can't. But yeah, tryin' to destroy the world. Jail just…can't fix that."

Ray sat next to Winston, placing a plate of various foods of various calorie contents on the table in front of the two of them. "Gosh. I wonder how it happened. And I wonder how DiTillio's handling it."

Peter continued. "It says here: DiTillio has solemnly sworn to never let anyone know about the destructive power that a few words and some ancient heiroglyphics can create. He seems to be doing worse every day because of the strain of keeping such an awful secret. His guilt is eating him away, but he rests in the hope that anyone who would have access to information of this nature be granted such on the merits of his soul and personality and not necessarily on the size of his interest in the occult. However, he is living every day to the fullest, (as we all are), in spite of his health problems. Along with myself, we hope your continued work preserves the lives of many people. God bless and keep you all. Signed,CindyFrawcord. P.S.-Thank you so much again to all you brave men. You've saved not only one man's soul from selfish oblivion, but also the world."

The only sound that rang through the firehouse for a moment or two was the traffic going by.

Peter sighed. "I guess that means she doesn't realize she wants me yet," he said, tossing the letter back on the secretary's desk. "She has NO idea what she's missing."

Janine shot a glare at the doctor, then picked up the letter and studied it. Egon had already walked over silently from where he leaned, to right in back of the secretary, carefully examining every inch of the letter along with her as she flipped the paper over a few times, front-to-back, from well above her shoulder. "Ya'd think that knowing how to call up somethin' like that, you'd be too excited running the world your way instead of tryin' to destroy it!"

From the dark look on his angular face, Winston and Ray could tell that comment didn't exactly agree with Egon too kindly.

Peter waved his hand and sat next to Ray and Winston, opening a beer. "Aaah, he was a musician. He was so stuck on losing out on Cindy that he couldn't think of anything else. You know how those artsy-fartsy types are…you burst their bubble once and they don't think that there's a whole bottle of bubble solution just waiting to be…well…bubbled!" He turned to Ray. "So Ray, what would you do if you could run the world? And let me grab a doggie bag in case it involves something like peace, love and harmony."

"Actually Peter…I was thinking just that…that I'd like to establish peace, love and harmony," replied Ray matter-of-factly.

The psychologist briefly put a finger to his tongue with an exaggerated blech in feigned sickness. He eyed Winston. "How 'bout you Winston? Wouldja turn all the lead in the world to gold? Wouldja make the newpapers put dramatic headlines in when you got a hangnail? Wouldja clear the streets when driving to a job so Ecto-1 would never need a buff ever again? And hey, by the way, who needs a job when you can run the world anyway? Ha! Silly me!"

Winston took a swig of beer. "Actually I was thinkin' along the same lines as Ray."

"You know, you boys have to get out more. Remind me to assist you with that if the info of how to make to world go boom pops in my head one day." Peter cocked his head over at their secretary. "Hey, Janiiiiiiine," he said, almost singsongy, "I'm suuuuuuure you'd take being our boss again over running the entire world."

Janine tried to blow off the tease about the whole genie incident as smoothly as she could, but still nervously chewed on the end of her pencil, uncomfortable not only at being reminded of her naïve requests while seemingly having the aid of a supposedly harmless genie, but also having Egon hovering over her while it was being mentioned. "Running the world after bein' your boss would seem like a pay raise, Doctor Venkman."

Peter feigned physical chest pain for a moment. "So Spengs, whaddaya think? If anyone can make the world go boom, it's you. You're only one of three people on Earth that were smart enough to be bothered to study how to destroy the world." He slapped his forehead. "Gosh, why didn't I think of minoring in world destruction when not studying for my degree!"

If looks could kill, they say. "I suggest you desist from describing me that way in any future reference, or I will apply sudden and destructive pressure to you rather overly-gregarious consumption orifice," Egon said, practically growling.

Peter turned to Winston and Ray. "Wha'd he say?"

Winston grinned broadly. "He said that if ya don't shut up he'll deck ya in the mouth, homeboy." Ray nodded vigorously, obviously desperately stifling a laugh.

Peter innocently put his palms up. He know no one was more formidable than an angry six-foot-six, rather in well shape man that, as an added bonus, knew more than a hundered different ways how to blow every cell in your body to quarks.

Egon, finished examining the letter, turned his attention to the geometry book that still lay opened on the desk in front of Janine. Picking it up and leafing through it, he returned the discussion to a more somber tone. "Anyway, I don't think this is an accident. Ragnarok is too destructive not to have repercussions after its attempted summon. I think we should stay on guard about this issue and carefully monitor the news and phone calls for any unusual activity."

Peter rolled his eyes. "We work with slime and spooks on a daily basis and this guy says we should keep our eyes peeled for what he calls 'unusual activity'."

A rather enthralled Janine looked up at the blond doctor. "Whatcha think, Egon?" she said sweetly and softly. "I'm trying to improve my knowledge of various subjects. Just in case Dr. Venkman ends up running the world and I have to teach 'im a few things."

Egon raised an eyebrow. "This does seem a rather useful book explaining the most elementary basics and simple proofs. Rather juvenile, but efficient."

Janine was taken aback for a moment at the word "juvenile", but recovering quickly, her eyes regained their twinkle. "Knowledge is power, Egon. You taught me that."

Disturbed, he returned the book to the page she was on. "Just remember the incident we learned about today, Janine. Sometimes 'ignorance is bliss' seems less an adage than a time-tested truth." His words were so heavy that even Peter was silenced for a moment, deeply understanding the burden apparent in his colleague's words.

Egon turned and again, headed toward the lab to continue his studies.

Winston broke the silence. "Hey, wanna flip through the stations news and see if anything about that big museum meeting in Paris is featured? If my girl gets interviewed, I can tell 'er good she looked on TV!"

Ray happily agreed, Peter lazily acquiesced, and the three continued to discuss news-news learned just previously, and kept their eyes peeled for anything new they might see that might have to do with either Jeremy Whittington or Winston's girlfriend.

While the guys continued bantering, Janine tapped her pencil hard on the desk a few times. "Ignorance is bliss…oh really, Egon? I'll show ya I can handle knowledge like a pro," she whispered to herself. She picked up the geometry book again, trying to cram more information into her already overheated head.