Authors note: This story timeline is based around 1991. I'm trying to keep things used in this story based on that timeline, but after 20+ years it's hard to remember what was and wasn't around at that time; so bear with me. I don't own any of the characters, I'm just borrowing them...

Therapy

"Ok, now I want to make this clear from the very beginning," said Dr. Bascolm as the 5 people chose their seats in various parts of the room. "We are NOT going to degenerate into pointless name calling. We are going to use this session CONSTRUCTIVELY to try to get to the bottom of why you're all not getting along."

"You might want to break that down into 10 cent words for Janine, Doc. I don't think she'll be able to follow the usual jargon," said Peter as he plunked himself down in a wing chair by the bookcase.

"You can take your opinion and stick it directly up your..." Janine started before Bascolm interrupted her.

"NO, NO, NO!" commanded the Doctor. "This is exactly what we are NOT going to do. Janine, please have a seat."

Janine gave a final glare at Peter before she sat down on a plush chair by the window. She kicked off her shoes and curled her legs under her crossing her arms over her chest and stared moodily at the Doctor.

"Ok I think what we're going to do is start off with word association so I can see where everyone stands towards one another. Janine, I'm going to start with you. When I say someone's name I want you to say the first word that comes to mind in association with that person." He reached across his desk for a pencil and took a notebook from his desk drawer. "Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

Janine closed her eyes and raised her right hand. She flipped her wrist and said "proceed then," before crossing her arms over her chest again.

"Winston"

Janine opened her eyes and looked over at at the subject in question. "Solid" she stated. Winston raised his eyebrows at her and gave her a small smile. She smiled back at him

"Ray"

Janine fixed her gaze on the youngest Ghostbuster and her smile stayed on her face as she stared at his open countenance. "Fun," she replied. Ray's grin got even wider with that.

"Peter"

Janine's face quickly clouded over and she scowled as she turned to the smirking man. "JACKASS!" She stated with vehemence.

"Why Janine you say the sweetest things," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Eh eh Peter," the doctor waved a finger at him. "Wait until it's your turn. Ok Janine, and finally Egon."

Janine swung her head around to face Egon who was seated to her left. Her face took on a blank expression and she paused a moment before blurting out "jackass".

Egon's started, and stared at Janine as if she had just slapped him. Peter howled with laughter before the doctor admonished him again.

"Jackass?" Egon asked Janine, and she stared at him for a moment before turning away to look out the window. Ray and Winston exchanged a look with each other before turning to look back at the doctor.

"Ok Janine, thank you. Well Peter, since you seem to be very vocal let's have you go next."

"Whatever Doc."

"Winston"

"Trustworthy." Winston gave Peter a smile and a small nod of his head.

"Ray"

"Dopey Dog." "Hey!" exclaimed Ray as he leaned forward. "I'm not Dopey Dog!"

"Ray, please. This is just a feeling out exercise, we can get into a debate later," the doctor interjected. Ray sat back with a pout on his face.

"Egon"

"Egghead."

"Egghead?" asked Egon softly "I'm beginning to take this all very personally."

"Isn't that the point?" asked Peter with a guffaw.

"No Peter, that's not the point. I'm trying to understand where everyone is at, now please let's stay on topic people. All right Peter, last up...Janine."

"Shrew".

Janine's head whipped around to face him. She hissed at him as her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Hissing beetle?" asked Peter with a smirk on his face.

"All right, moving on people," sighed the Doctor. "Raymond, you're next. Winston"

"Friend"

"Peter?"

"Sad."

"SAD?"

"Peter!" Bascolm had a warning tone to his voice

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Egon"

"Innovative" Egon raised his eyebrows and seemed pleased with this description.

"Janine"

"Brave". Janine looked over at Ray and gave him a soft smile before returning her gaze to the window.

"She's brave and I'm SAD! REALLY RAY!"

"Enough Peter! Winston, it's your turn. Ray."

"Easy-going."

"Peter"

"Tiresome"

"WHAT!"

Bascolm sighed but decided to just ignore him. "Egon."

Winston shook his head and looked down at the floor. "Winston? What word do you associate with Egon?" prodded the doctor.

Winston looked up and stared directly into Egon's eyes. "Dumb!"

Egon frowned. "Dumb?"

Winston shook his head and repeated his statement "Dumb, dumb, DUMB!". Peter gave a snort but otherwise remained silent.

"Janine"

"Smart."

"She's smart and I'M dumb?" asked Egon. Janine whipped her head around and gave Egon a glacial stare. Egon flinched and tried to back peddle. "Not that I'm saying that...uh...you AREN'T smart it's just that compared to me...ah..." Janine's eyes narrowed to the point he could barely see her corneas. He got the feeling that he'd REALLY stuck his foot in his mouth, a point made even more clear by the hysterical laughter emanating from Peter.

"Ok, Ok, let's get it together people. We're almost done with this. Egon, let's wrap up this exercise shall we."

"Yes, please." said Egon, who's face was completely red from the serious blunder he had made towards Janine.

"Winston"

"Efficient"

"Ray"

"Valuable"

"Peter"

"Egotistical"

"Janine"

Egon was aware that the red head was still staring at him but he had been looking at the doctor the whole time. However as soon as Bascolm had said her name the flush started creeping up his neck and he turned to stare at her. She had a blank unreadable expression on her face and one eyebrow twitched as she waited for his response.

"Egon," the doctor prodded. "what word would you use to describe Janine."

Egon gulped and just stared into those green eyes. A word that describes Janine he thought. Beautiful, wise, caring, sweet, unselfish, pick one, ANY one!

"Egon?"

"SECRETARY" he blurted out; and inwardly he groaned.

Peter let out a whoop "Secretary? Good job Mr. Obvious!"

Winston shook his head "man..." he said exchanging a look with Ray.

Janine's eyes still hadn't left Egon's and his heart sunk as her eyebrow twitched again and she turned away from him.

"Ok. Well I can see where SOME of the problems lie. Winston," the doctor turned to address the eldest man. "It seems from everyone's responses that you are the one that no one seems to have a problem with, so I'd like to start with you. What do YOU think is going on here?"

"Well," said Winston, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped in front of him. "Some of what's going on, I don't have a clue about."

"Well let's start off with what you DO have a clue about. Now Dr. Spengler has several doctorate degrees and yet you called him dumb. Would you elaborate on that."

Winston let out a sigh and looked towards Janine. She gave him a small shrug and then folded her arms on the arm of the chair and buried her face in them.

"Janine wears her heart on her sleeve," Winston started off. "She's carried a torch for Egon since she started working there, but either he doesn't notice it or doesn't WANT to notice it. I mean this woman has strapped a 50lb. nuke to her back and jumped into the fray facing down demons, demi-gods and all kinds of ectoplasmic uglies just to save him." Winston turned to Egon to address him directly. "You know how many women would actually throw themselves in front of the proverbial bullet and take the hit meant for you, my man? Not many! Too many of them are the type that would throw you IN FRONT of it. Yet here she is ready to run all over hell and creation to save your scrawny ass, and the best word you could come up with to describe her is SECRETARY?"

"So you think that Egon doesn't care about Janine?" asked the doctor.

"Well that's the problem. I'm pretty sure he DOES care, but he'll be damned if he ever shows it. Except when he gets jealous of the men Janine dates when she gets sick of waiting around for him."

"I've NEVER been jealous of the men Janine dates!" Egon protested.

"Oh no?" Peter chimed in with a smirk, then he changed his voice to a nasally sneer and said "then what do you call that? Your jalopy?"

Ray laughed from the other side of the room "Or remember when we were fixing up that zeppelin?" Ray, too, changed the tone of his voice. "It'll give you more time to spend with Louis, but don't let him drive the Ectomobile..."

Peter let off another whoop "Yeah right Spengs, not jealous my ASS!"

"All right all right, let's get back on subject. So Winston what are you trying to say about the situation."

"I guess..." he looked at Egon first and then over to Janine, whose head was still buried in her arms. "I guess what I'm saying is..." Janine turned her head slightly towards him and all he could see was one emerald green eye staring at him. He addressed his next words to her. "What I'm saying is, is that you are smart, and strong and sweet and you deserve more," he flicked his eyes towards Egon and back again. "Much more than I think you'll ever get from him."

Janine raised her head and looked towards Egon. She looked back at Winston and slowly nodded her head before letting it sink back down on her arms. Egon felt like he wanted to vomit. Peter let out a long sigh and shifted his position in his chair.

"Is there something you want to add to that Peter?"

"Nope."

"First time for everything." Ray muttered softly.

"Raymond," said Bascolm turning to address the auburn haired Ghostbuster. "What's your take on the tense situations at the firehouse."

"Actually, most of the recent problems have originated with Peter."

"Mmmmm-hmmmm." Winston added.

"And here we go" sighed Peter raising his hand in the air. "All right boys, hit me with your best shot."

"And what do you think is going on with Peter to cause these current problems Ray?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to tell with Peter," Ray rubbed the back of his head with his hand in a quizzical gesture. "Pete's the type to repress difficult emotions."

"ME? Hold it, HOLD IT! I'm not the repressed one in the group, you want repressed we need to go to this corner of the room;" he said pointing his thumb towards Egon.

"Now wait a minute Peter..."

"I'm talking about emotionally repressed Peter, not sexually repressed." stated Ray with a grin.

"I am NOT sexually repressed!" Egon exclaimed and was about to open his mouth for a rebuttal when he heard a snort come from Janine's direction. He turned with a frown on his face but saw that her head was still buried in her arms; although her body was shaking slightly. Is she laughing at me?

"Ok I'll admit that I don't talk about DEEP FEELINGS, " Peter said exaggerating the last few words. "but I'm not what you'd call emotionally repressed! And there's nothing going on with me."

"Oh please Pete, you've been picking fights with Janine for the better part of the past two weeks!" exclaimed Winston.

"Yeah!" added Ray, "and the insults you've been throwing at her are just down right mean!"

"Ray could you give me some examples of things that Peter has been saying to Janine."

"Oh..ah..well" Ray rubbed the side of his face with his hand sheepishly. "It's not something I think bears repeating."

Janine raised her head up and looked at him. "Go ahead Ray, tell him. It's not like I haven't heard it before." With that she turned and looked out the window again.

"Oh, well. In that case..." he turned to address Bascolm. "Pete asked her to run an errand on the way back from her lunch break one day, but she said she wouldn't have time since she was meeting someone for lunch, and then Pete said..well...he said.."

"Peter said, and I quote," Winston picked up where Ray was having trouble finishing; "Slumming in the gutter with Louis Tully does not constitute meeting someone for lunch."

Egon's jaw dropped open. "I hadn't heard about THAT ONE before Peter!" He said with an icy tone in his voice.

"How would you have, you're always up in your lab." Janine stated quietly before spinning around to face Egon with anger in her eyes. "Besides what the hell difference does it make to you!"

Egon was about to answer when Dr. Bascolm steered the conversation back to Ray. "Ray is that the only insulting thing that Peter has said to Janine lately?"

"No, not even close."

"What else has Peter said?"

Janine sighed and slid down in the seat until her head was resting against the back. She kept her feet tucked under her and was staring daggers at Peter, who in turn was staring up at the ceiling.

"Janine had a date last Friday and just before the guy came to pick her up she asked Winston and I how she looked and before we could answer her, Pete came out from his office and asked her what hobo she had mugged for the outfit she was wearing."

"Or the time he gave her a fork and told her to stick it in the outlet because the electricity would do a better job styling her hair than she had that morning," added Winston.

"OR," said Ray leaning forward and pointing at Peter. "When you handed Janine that box and told her to put it over her head because you'd already seen enough ugly things that day!"

"And how about when he asked her what clown college she attended to learn how to apply her make-up like that." Winston leaned back in his chair crossing his arms and glaring at the snarky psychologist.

"PETER!" Egon was in shock. He knew there had been tension growing between Janine and Peter but he never realized how truly awful things had gotten. But I wouldn't, would I, since I always go running right up to the lab like Janine said. No wonder she was so angry at him. The only person Peter would even marginally listen to was him. and I hadn't been around to stop it.

The room was suddenly silent except for the tapping of the doctors pencil against the wood top of his desk. Finally Peter couldn't take the silence anymore. "WHAT? They were JOKES! Can't anyone take a joke anymore?"

Dr. Bascolm sighed and sat up straight in his chair. "No wonder Janine slapped you Peter, what I can't understand is what took her so long to do it."

"Hostile work environment!" Peter exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Winston, "and YOU'RE the one making it hostile. It's not only with Janine, doc;" Winston turned to the doctor to further state his case. "In the car on the way to a bust he barely says a word and when he does it's only to make a cocky or snide remark. He hasn't been going out, he stays in his office all the time when he's not on a bust or eating or sleeping and he's been avoiding us. ALL of us, with the exception of Janine, who he goes to great pains to antagonize."

The doctor leaned forward over his desk to get a better look at the now sullen Ghostbuster. "What's going on Peter? This is clearly anti-social behavior, and it's noticeable enough for your friends to be concerned about you."

"Must be my time of the month."

The three other busters sighed and shook their heads. "See what I mean doc," said Ray.

"I think, what everyone here needs is a break from one another."

"A break?" asked Ray looking at the doctor. "You mean like a few days off?"

"No, what I mean is a vacation from one another. Two weeks away from work, from home and most importantly from EACH OTHER. You can take that time to gain perspective on things. Figure out what you want from yourselves and what you expect from each other. Your relationships with each other all revolve around your work. Take away the work element and let everything revolve around YOURSELVES. Get away, relax and take time to figure out what's best for you. But most importantly, STAY AWAY FROM EACH OTHER! Get as far from each other as you possibly can."

The five friends looked at each other. "Well," said Ray, "we all COULD use a vacation."

"Things have been kinda slow lately," Winston conceded.

"Two weeks away from HIM," Janine sneered, glaring at Peter. "Sounds like paradise to me!"

"The sooner the better!" Peter sneered right back at Janine.

"Perfect! And just so there won't be any confusion, let's figure out where you'll all be going so you can avoid each other on your vacations. Winston? Where would you like to go?"

"Hmm," Winston thought for a moment before a smile spread across his face. "Washington D.C."

"Good! Ok, So, let's take D.C. is off the vacation list. Peter, where would you like to head to?"

Slowly a smirk spread to Peters face, which turned into a full blown Cheshire cat grin as he stated "Cancun!"

"Ok, Egon?"

Egon stroked his chin while he thought, then his eyes lit up. "AH! Florida!"

"All right! And Janine?"

"HAWAII!"

"And finally you Ray."

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe I should stay close in case something happens at the firehouse. I know! I'll go to Morrisville and..." a blush started creeping up his face, "I'll go back and see some old friends and that way I'll still be only about an hour away in case of an emergency."

"Wonderful. Well now that that's settled I suggest you make the reservations as soon as possible and leave within the next few days. At the current rate things seem to be deteriorating you all don't have a moment to loose!"