Dr. Ray Stantz wiped the black engine grease from his hands onto a worn out red rag as he and Winston Zeddemore finished tuning the engine of their main vehicle, the Ecto-1. With the city being quiet and remaining undisturbed by potential paranormal threats the two men had plenty of time to take care of the car and catch up on their ever growing stack of paperwork.

The once pristine white t-shirts that the two men wore were now irreparably stained with oil, grease and sweat. Their worn out blue jeans didn't fair any better in the aftermath of their hard work and skills as amateur mechanics.

Winston slammed down the hood of the hearse and took a step back. "Done. When Peter and Egon get back with the truck I'll change the oil in that one, too."

Ray tossed the dirty rag aside and looked down at his wristwatch noting the time. "It's getting kinda' late. Wonder where they are?"

"If I had to guess," Winston stretched out his tired shoulders as he walked over the ragged couch set up against the wall in the garage. "I'd say Peter is complaining about being out in the forest and dragging his feet, and Egon is collecting more mold samples for his collection." He plopped down on the aged sofa and relaxed.

"Why'd we send them out there again?" Ray asked with a slight chuckle in his voice. Egon and Peter weren't the type of people to jump at the chance to leave the safety of the lab, let alone leave the city. "You and I are the only ones with any form of wilderness experience."

"I think it was Egon who volunteered to go so he could accurately map out our jurisdiction, and Peter went along so he didn't have to worry about paperwork if we got called out on a bust."

"That's right." Ray joined Winston at the couch and kicked up his boots, resting them on a worn out wooden crate that held old car parts. "We're the lucky ones who get to play mechanic all night while they're out checking new haunts. No pun intended!"

"Yeah. But you love working on Ecto-1."

"I do." Ray agreed with a somehow nostalgic lilt. "She's really unique."

Janine Meltnitz, the fiery and loyal receptionist to the Ghostbusters let out a sleep yawn as she crossed through the garage and gave a slight wave to the two men resting on the ragged couch. "Goodnight fellas', I'll be back in the morning."

"Goodnight Janine." Ray closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the worn out cushion of the couch. "See you tomorrow."

Winston crossed his arms and let himself sink down into the well worn cushions as Janine strolled casually through the garage and took her leave of the night. "Want to see if we can get some takeout ordered?"

"Nah. Not really hungry."

"Well, I'm not going to crash until Egon and Peter get back. Want to see if there's anything good on the late night movie channel?"

"Sure. Maybe they'll do another monster marathon. Those are always... weird."

Leaning forward on the couch Winston ran his tired hands over his face. "I think I'll get on the radio and make contact with the guys. An E.T.A. would be nice."

"Good idea." Ray didn't move from his spot on the unexpectedly comfortable couch. "They might even be a couple of blocks away as far as we know."

Winston walked over to Janine's now vacated desk and pulled the mic from the radio that connected the firehouse to Ecto-1 and Ecto-2 and turned the radio to the correct channel. "Hey guys, can you hear me?"

There was no reply from the other end of the line, not even a static filled garbed response.

"Come on guys, can you hear me? Hello?"

Winston's voice sounded off with no acknowledgement inside the cab of the truck as it sat idle in the forest just a few yards from the collapsed mine where Peter and Egon were trapped within.

His instincts as a marine and a protector kicked in. Winston hung up the mic and looked over to Ray. "Something's wrong."

"Radio busted?"

"No. I mean there's something wrong with the guys. Something happened."

"What?" Ray's shot open wide as he turned to stare at Winston. "What happened?"

"Not sure. But we need to go and find them."

"How do we do that? The forest is pretty big and they've been out there for hours."

Winston pulled open the top right desk drawer and retrieved a small black case. Inside the case was a little radio transceiver and storage compartments for four individual tracking chips. Two of the chips remained in the case while the other two had been removed; one tracking chip had been installed inside Ecto-1 and the second had been installed inside Ecto-2.

"Tracking device." Winston stated as he turned on the transceiver and changed the frequency to tune into the location of Ecto-2. The transceiver honed in on the current location of the truck and remained static in place. "Well, we found the truck but it's not moving..."

"Maybe they've parked and are out exploring the forest?"

"Maybe." Winston shook his head and pulled the keys to Ecto-1 out of his pocket. "Maybe the truck broke down."

"Or..." Ray felt a knot tighten in his stomach. "Something else happened."

Without a word Winston walked over to Ecto-1 and took his place behind the steering wheel. Ray quickly joined his friend in the front passenger seat as the hearse roared to life and left the garage behind.

"I'll keep trying the radio." Ray decided as he took the mic off the support and tuned into Ecto-2's channel.

"Yeah, and let me know if their position changes." He handed the transceiver to Ray who took it with his hand opposite of the mic." Looks like they're about twenty miles away..."

Peter coughed weakly as he struggled to push the heavy broken beams from his shoulder and free himself from the fallen debris. His strength was fading quickly as both the physical strain exhausted him and the stagnant air made it increasingly difficult to catch his breath. Taking a moment to rest he leaned his head back against the cold stone and dirt wall of the tunnel and let out a deeply pained sigh, only to choke and cough on the dusty air again.

A subtle groan of pain caught Peter's attention as Egon was regaining consciousness on the floor of the tunnel a few inches from where he sat.

"Egon? You with me buddy?"

A second groan was followed by a grunt of shocked pain. Small bits of stone and wooden splintered stirred as Egon forced himself to slowly sit upright, using his arms to push up his entire upper body and rested on his elbows. "...Peter?"

"Yeah, it's me! Glad you're awake."

"...The mine." The haze was clearing from his mind as he fully regained consciousness. "It collapsed." He let out another grunt of pain as he tried and failed to move his pinned leg and discovered in the most unfortunate way that the bones were undeniably broken. "Are- Are you hurt?" He stammered through his pain to check on his friend. "Where are you? I-I lost the light."

"Right here." Peter moved a rock along the ground with his boot until it pressed lightly against Egon's free leg. "I'm right beside you."

"Are you injured?" Egon asked as he slowly ran his hands up his leg and stopped as soon as he felt the pain radiating from the broken bones.

"No, just trapped." Peter could barely see Egon in the darkness or see his faint silhouette amongst the broken, jagged bits of timber and large pieces of fallen earth. "How's your leg?"

"Broken." Egon confirmed as he put the palms of hands against the large, heavy chuck of lumber. "And I cannot free my leg."

"Guess we're stuck together, huh pal?"

"It would appear that way, yes." Egon sounded as vapidly disappointed as Peter. "How long was I unconscious?"

"About ten minutes." Peter stated calmly. "Have a headache?"

"Thanks my broken tibia and fibula the pain in my skull has been greatly diminished."

"Can you move your leg at all?"

"No." Egon tried to move his foot and fortunately the appendage responded. As did his toes which meant that the blood flow to his leg hadn't been cut off by the fallen beam. "But if I can wrest my leg free I can move closer to your position."

"Don't try." Peter urged sharply. "We can't see anything. How do we know that the beam on your leg isn't balancing something else that's keeping the rest of the mine from collapsing down on us?"

"Excellent question." Egon reluctantly stayed in place and gave up on the idea of pulling his leg free of the beam. "Can you make it to the exit?"

"I'm stuck too." Peter put his hand on the large beam that had pinned him down at his shoulder. "And even if I could get out of here I wouldn't leave you behind."

"That's comforting." Egon shuddered slightly as an uncomfortable chill ran up his spine. "If we're to get out of this mine alive then we must hope that a rescue party has been dispatched or a wandering hunter happens by."

"What're the odds of some guy just finding us?"

"I could give you the exact numerical estimation," Egon wrapped his arms around his chest in an attempt to stave off the creeping cold of the mine. "but I think you'd prefer not to know."

"Yup. You know me so well, Spengz." Peter's sarcastic retort was as bitter as it was irritated.

"Peter?" Egon was far more empathetic than he let on, especially with his friends. He could sense that there was something weighing heavily on Peter's mind. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." He almost snapped. "Trapped in an abandoned mine in the middle of nowhere with no one around for miles. What could be better."

"That's not to what I was referring." Egon defended without sounding defensive. "Are you injured and denying it for my sake?"

"What? No." His answer was sincere. The last thing he wanted to do was make Egon worry, but he wouldn't lie about being injured knowing that Egon was one of the few people he trusted to help him in a time of need. "Just... thinking. That's all."

"About what?" Egon pressed out of curiosity. It wasn't often that Peter would open up and discuss the burdens he constantly insisted on bearing himself.

"...The past."

"Oh. I see." The past was a delicate subject. One that Egon, Ray and Winston all knew to never drudge up. "I'll leave you to your thoughts."

Peter arched an eyebrow at the comment. Had he really developed such a steeled, walled off exterior that even his friends no longer tried to engage him in conversation? The thought of his abrasiveness pushing his friends away was humbling enough for Peter to set aside his fiercely independent, arrogant nature and to reach out to his friend.

After all, if the mine had a second collapse then neither of them would survive. Why hold back? Why not share your deepest secrets with the one person you trust the most while there was still time?

"Egon..." Peter began slowly. His words halted as he had to mentally convince himself that it was okay to talk. "earlier tonight, did you wonder why I'm afraid of bats and hate dark places?"

...to be continued...