I don't own Ghostbusters, the movie, games, or any of the toys.
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.
New York was a buzz with the anticipation for the New Year. From setting up Times Square for the inevitable party tomorrow night or just getting enough booze to last through 1989, the streets were alive with certain energy; one could only describe it as New York itself. From the streets below, Venkman climbed the staircase leading to his apartment, waiting with baited breath until he could see Dana and little Oscar once more. With the scare Ray had given him earlier in the day, he wanted nothing then to sit down and rest before Ray decided to kill them all again, which was this rate was any minute now.
With a crudely packed suitcase and a small bouquet of sweet flowers, Peter opened the door to his bachelor pad, expecting a little more fan-fair when he swung the door open. "Dana! Your prince!" He called out into the empty studio apartment, earning nothing more than silence back as a reply. His eyes darted around the cluttered flat, moving from one corner to another as his shoulders dropped. The corners full with random sporting equipment he hadn't looked at in years, the walls lined with the headlines from "USA Today" and "Times" magazine from five years ago, Egon, Ray, and Peter's faces all displayed as the head line "WHO YOU GONNA CALL?" was printed proudly above them.
That was before the city sued them, before Dana broke up with him. Even before Stay Puft. The pictures had faded into the background now, as Peter looked franticly around the apartment, searching for something or someone.
"Oh no." He sighed, wondering from the kitchen area to the living room, to the den and back to the kitchen with a lost look on his face. "Oh no." He groaned, looking around at his aging hard wood floor.
"She cleaned."
From behind him, he could hear the sound of the bedroom door open and closing softly before a gentle voice said "Hi."
He spun around on his heel as Dana made her way from the bedroom. All ready making herself at home, she'd stripped from her clothes from the previous night and had a shower already, as evidence from her flushed complexion and the towel around her chest. Her curly hair was fallen into wet ringlets as drops of water splashed on her shoulders. Peter smiled at the sight.
"Hi." He replied, apparently louder then he thought as Dana shushed him, putting her index finger to her lips. "Ssh… He's asleep. Come here." She whispered as she started to walk of her tip toes towards Peter's office area. He followed close behind, minding his steps as he made sure to avoid the obvious creaky floor boards. Dana reached for his hand but only for a moment before she retreated, her mind jumping back to what she was there to find out. "So what happened with my apartment?"
Peter sighed deeply, leaning against his cluttered desk.
"Well, the guys spent the whole night there. They went through all your things, your personal stuff, the tried on some of your clothes, made a few long-distance phone calls, -" Dana sighed heavily at Peter's rendition of the night before. "- Cleaned out the fridge…"
"Did they find anything?" Dana cut to the chase, not wanting to know what all Egon and Ray did while at her and her son's home. Peter sighed again, knowing she wasn't going to like what he was going to say, but had to anyway.
"They found a little bit of that pink slime." Peter admitted, watching as Dana's expression turned grim. "Oh God." She whispered under her breath as not even their home was safe. Why did this thing try to attack Oscar, what did it want with them?
"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"
Peter smiled, raising his eyebrow at the young mother. "You are supposed to get dressed and get crazy with me of the streets of Manhattan tonight." Peter said, pushing himself off the desk. Dana sighed as she shook her head, still not able to get through to Peter after all these years. "Peter, I don't think—"
"This is exactly what you need!" Peter said, pausing mid stride to turn back to Dana, who after all these years was still questioning his sanity. "I have got you a baby-sitter. The whole thing's wired."
"Peter, I don't think we should go on a date." Dana tried to reason with him, but he wasn't having any of it. He tried to run away from her, hoping she'd give up, but she was relentless as she followed him around the apartment. "You know, I can't leave Oscar in a strange place with a strange person."
Peter stopped, facing Dana as if she'd just hurt his feeling. "Strange person? Janine Melnitz, from my staff!"
"Janine has experience? Baby-sitting?" Dana asked, questioning the ability of the Ghostbusters receptionist. Peter noticed her hesitance before laying down the charm with the small bouquet of green and purple flowers. "Here."
"Thank you." Dana said, accepting Venkman's flowers. "But you didn't answer my question."
Peter stumbled, having been caught in a cheap move by Dana. He had to back peddle fast, but he wasn't sure how. Stumbling over his words, Peter stuttered something fierce before finally coming up with an answer.
"Katherine Reed! What about Katherine Reed? She's great with kids."
"Kitty?" Dana questioned, not knowing if Peter knew another Katherine Reed. She didn't know the girl personally, besides knowing that they were neighbors at one point. She seemed sweet enough, why wouldn't she work out?
"I'll call the firehouse and see if she could watch Janine."
"And Oscar?"
"Sure, him too." Peter joked, earning a lightly laugh from Dana's lips.
"I've also brought something from your apartment." Peter said, lifting the old suitcase up to his chest. The clothes inside where crudely shoved into the suitcase, the packer oblivious to the idea of folding as part and sleeves and a bra cup was sticking out of the partially zipped lid. "Some wardrobe choices, a couple of provocative ensembles in here – I'll leave it up to you."
Dana hesitated, but only for a moment before she nodded her head, going along with Venkman's idea. "Okay, but after dinner, don't put any of those old cheap moves on me." She said, making her way back to the bedroom as Peter shook his head overzealously.
"No, no, no, no." Peter defended, following Dana into the back with her suitcase.
"It's different this time."
"I have all new cheap moves."
Once back from the museum, Ray and Egon ran straight up to the lab to develop the photos from that morning. Kitty had to literally pull Ray away to give him something for his eye, which at this point was starting to bruise under the skin. She pressed a bag of frozen peas against the right side of his face and sent him off, wondering how he could run film at any rate with only one eye.
Winston shook his head at the sight of the two, giddy as school girls to see what was on that roll of film. When they'd finally disappeared, Winston decided he was going to do some more research on Mr. Vigo and that ugly-ass painting. Flipping through the books, he watched as Kitty pranced around the room, dusting off places she's missed with a wet washcloth. He tried his best to stay out of the way, even lifted his feet a couple times when she decided to vacuum the floor. He had to admit, she was taking this job very seriously. He didn't think that floor upstairs had ever been vacuumed.
Behind the roar of the vacuum cleaner, Remy mumbled that she'd be down stairs, working on the monstrosity that was the crumpled Ecto-One. She waited down stairs for the tow truck to deliver the Ghostbusters main mode of transportation, silently twiddling her thumbs as she waited.
Upstairs, however, Kitty was getting to work, cleaning and making sure she didn't miss anything while trying not to distract Ray and Egon, or Winston with her ruckus. She was so busy, working up a storm like that, that she didn't even notice Angie walk up the large staircase until she was at the top.
"Angie!" Kitty shouted over the sound of the vacuum cleaner, shutting it off promptly before rushing to her sister's side. Angie was still dressed in catering uniform, a white button up top and black slacks, her kinky hair pulled back behind her head in a ponytail. She had smudged her makeup, the black eyeliner now crawling around her bottom eyelid as she tried to smile. "Hey." Angie mumbled, waving at the occupants in the room.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had an event."
"Well, I did." Angie said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But, uh, they sent me home."
"Why?"
"Because I, kind of, got sick." Angie shrugged it off like it was nothing.
"What?"
"Well, they were pulling out the main course and the smell just hit me like never before. I excused myself, went to the bathroom and after I was fine, but they told me to go home, so I did."
"Are you okay now?"
"Yeah! I'm fine! I guess what ever made me sick is, uh, out now." Angie tried to put it delicately, but failed as Winston wouldn't be hungry for about a month after this conversation. Kitty rubbed her older sister's shoulder, feeling bad for her but not enough to give her a hug. She still kind of smelled.
The phone rang, Janine got it instantly.
"Why don't you go home and get some rest? You might be coming down with something."
"No, I'm not coming down with anything." Angie protested.
"You know, there's a lot of that going around." Winston piped in, setting down the ancient book on the coffee table. "Ray was acting a little weird today. Maybe it's a bug going around New York?"
Angie laughed lightly against her lips. "How was Ray acting weird?"
Kitty's eyes widened as she looked to Winston, hoping sometime today they'd both perfected telepathy. She shook her head slightly, hoping Angie didn't see the jerky movement of her head.
Janine jogged up the staircase, her new hairdo bouncing with every step as she hovered behind Angie. Saved by Janine, Kitty thought, wiping away a bead of sweat.
"Is this a bad time?" Janine asked, noting the tension in the air. Kitty shook her head at the idea. "No, not at all."
"Good. Dr. Venkman asked if you wanted to baby-sit tonight. I'll be there, so it's not like you'll be with him alone." Janine offered, leaning over the wooden railing. Sighing deeply, Kitty shook her head. "After everything today, I'm gonna have to pass."
"What happened today?" They ignored Angie probe for information.
"Okay, I'll tell Venkman – What about you?" Janine pointed to Angie, pulling from her need to know what the hell is going on. Angie stuttered for a moment, not knowing exactly what to say to the offer. She wasn't in the best shape to be around kids right now, but it's not like she had anything better to do.
"Is he paying?" Angie asked, getting her mind back on track. Janine nodded her head.
"Loads."
"Tell him I'll be at his apartment at eight!" Angie said, spinning around on her heel to face Janine. "If he needs me to pick up anything, just tell me."
"Okay, I will." Janine said before bouncing back down the stairs, eager to tell Venkman about his new babysitter.
Angie smiled widely at the idea of this work day being not completely wasted. She'd be able to make a little money on the side; how hard could caring for Oscar be? And she didn't get to go home, which was a huge plus.
"Sounds like I'm babysitting tonight." Angie said as she turned back around to Kitty and Winston. Winston rolled his eyes before getting back to work ignoring the pair of women deal with whatever nonsensical problems they were having. He had better things to do, like read up on some creepy painting the might be connected to some mood slime.
I hope you guys enjoyed it!
I'm getting back into the writing kick that I was in not too long ago.
Look forward to new updates!
~pure.
P.S. Happy Birthday, John Belushi.
The first Peter Venkman.