Chapter 2: Closure

Monday July 1st, 2002

Ghostbusters HQ

11:25 PM

Lita sat at the kitchen table with her fellow Scouts and with some of the Ghostbusters. Eduardo was on the phone with Carl's police station still trying to get information on Dan's arrest. Lita had finally put her hair back up in a ponytail and was now sitting in front of her cup of coffee. She felt extremely weak; more so than she should have, but she couldn't explain why. Egon was sitting beside her scanning her and it came back negative, "According to my readings, you should have all of your strength back," he put the meter down, shortly after putting his hand to her head, "Is there another reason you could be feeling this way?"

"I can't explain it," the young Japanese woman stated, "I feel like I've been drugged." Raye asked openly, "Are you sure she just doesn't need more sleep?" Amy was also checking on Lita with her computer, "Like Dr. Spengler said, all signs are pointing to her making a full recovery," the blue-haired woman closed her computer as she also asked her friend, "Is it possible it's because you're just worried about Dan?"

"What do ya mean there's no file?" Eduardo was heard yelling into his cell phone as he became annoyed, "He left here three hours ago! Arresting officer Sergeant Carlos Rivera, badge number 7728; Detainee Daniel Shannon." Mina was feeling his frustration as he spoke to the desk sergeant. Mina relayed the man's feelings to the crowd around her, "If she is, she wouldn't be the only one."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to see you try it!" Eduardo ended the call and threw his own phone across the kitchen out of sight. He turned toward the kitchen sink and put his hands on the lip of the counter. The rage Eduardo was putting off was dark and painful. Kylie walked beside him and asked gently, "No luck?" Eduardo pivoted away from the sink and looked at everyone in the room with him, "No! First I find out Kevin is missing, now Carl, Manny, and Dan are missing, too! Carl and Manny aren't picking up their phones, and dispatch hasn't heard from them all night! The Lo-Jack in their car's been broken, too!"

"Gee," a new voice said at the entrance of the kitchen, "I wonder why a mob-controlled vehicle has tracking disabled." Everyone turned to the door to find Old Man Dan leaning on the door jamb in his regular clothes. The cuts on his face were scabbed over; the cuts being too small for bandages he opted to leave them to heal without dressing. Amy had heard part of the story and was interested in what Old Dan had to say, "Mob-controlled?" "You see," Old Dan pushed off the entryway and started walking in, "the people that were trying to take over that Holly woman's inheritance were in fact the Bishop family. Under strange circumstances, the lawsuit she had with the Bishops defaulted in her favor. When she did that, she somehow got control of the whole family; politicians; judges; police captains; the chief…"

Eduardo was horrified, "You're saying my brother…?"

"No," Old Dan confirmed, "He'd be more valuable being ignorant of the situation. I seem to notice there were a bunch of young men in those cars chasing me and Moondust through the city. The captains aren't part of the cult, but I suspect they can fast track cadets into field positions. No, not your brother, Chico; his partner."

"Manny?" The latino Ghostbuster was clearly not sure what to take from this. He began to rationalize, "How could he? He was the best partner Carl ever had! I mean, I was just telling Kevin the other day…" All of a sudden it dawned on him. He became white as a sheet. The sudden jolt of fear also shot into Mina as she saw it in her mind. She gasped and placed her hands over her mouth as Eduardo clearly realized what happened, "I know what happened to Kevin!"

Lita suddenly jolted in her chair, the coffee cup being knocked off the table as her arms suddenly tensed. The coffee cup hit the floor and shattered as she suddenly stood up wide awake and alert, "So do I!" She looked at Eduardo, "Eduardo, Dan and your brother are in trouble!"

Dan was staring up the barrel of a shotgun. Its wielder was nothing more than a 15 year old boy Dan had known for 2 and a half years. Young Kevin Rivera stood before the Ghostbuster in a black cloak. The boy was nervous, "I-I don't know, Manny. Dan never did anything to me. Why can't we just let him go?" "Because he'll stop us if we do," the Chinese-American man stated, "In order for Hel to be brought into this world, we have to remove Her greatest threat. You know what the Ghostbusters have done; you know they stopped gods before. Hel is the true benevolent spirit that will right the wrongs."

"You're wrong, jerkoff," Dan was in a bad position, but he knew if he was going to go, he might as well try the hard way. It was, after all, the best way he learned, "Gods create the destruction we always see. It started with Gozer; then Proteus; then Cthulhu. Gods will destroy this world and you with it. I know what I'm talking about." Manny lost his cool and walked up to Dan. Dan continued, "Besides, that recorder your leader is using isn't a Norse artifact, it's…" Manny interrupted him by performing a two-inch punch right to his face. Dan went limp for a moment before raising his head back up, blood coming from his split lip. He spat out blood, "You know, I'm getting real sick of you."

Dan? Dan, can you hear me? Dan shook his head. He could have sworn he just heard Lita talking to him. It was like that time he first heard her voice in the bunk room before him and the Original Ghostbusters went to Tokyo. Manny must have hit him really hard to do that.

Come on, Dan, it's me! Can you hear me? There it was again. It took another moment to realize what was happening…

Manny growled out as he stood back by Kevin, "You will NOT speak of my Gydja in such a fashion, nor will you disrespect Hel!"

"He's not getting me!" Lita was sitting back in her chair with the tips of her fingers to her temples before putting one of her hands to her lip like she was in pain, "Manny gave him a really hard punch to the face." Kylie was sitting beside her trying to encourage her to see more, "What's going on?" "Dan and Carl are on their knees. Kevin is holding a shotgun on Dan!" "Where are they?" The goth woman beside her asked. Lita tried to see more clearly the surroundings through Dan's sight, "I can't see much. It looks like a forest."

Roland spoke up, "If they've been gone for three hours, they could be anywhere in the state by now." "Forest?" Old Man Dan said with a look of perplexion on his face. Mina took notice of the look, "What? What're you thinking?" He walked up to the girl that had a psychic link with his counterpart, "Lita, ask him to ask this asshole if where he is is where a man named Joey Saculopholus was found dead." Lita was jared from her task for a moment. She looked at the older Dan before her confused. His face became more stern as he knew she didn't have to understand to ask.

Eduardo was also confused, but for a different reason, "Joey Sack-of-Nickels? The mafioso that died last week after trying to escape? What about him?" Old Dan looked back at the latino, "Because he was the first sacrifice for this recorder thing you keep talking about. Why else would they pick a criminal? Because no one would miss him." Eduardo blanched as Old Dan looked back at Lita, "Ask him!"

Dan was still in a slight daze after the hit. Manny continued talking as he stood beside Kevin, "All of you people are a disease. I spent my whole life wondering why not only my biological parents left me behind, but why no one adopted me…"

Dan? Lita's voice was still trying to get through, Dan, you need to ask Manny if where you are is where this Joey Saculopholus mafia guy was found dead. I-I don't know why, but the other Dan is asking. Dan was now starting to understand what was happening. His link, "Is…" Dan wasn't sure how to randomly insert this question into the rambling Manny was doing, but he gave it a try, "Is this where they found Joey Saculopholus?"

Manny took to the interruption with a small sense of glee, "Yeah, it is. By our design. We sacrificed him to get Hel's recorder and start the symphony, then dumped his corpse right here. It's a pity no one will know where you are."

Lita relayed the message, "It is!" Old Dan stood up straight as he looked at Egon, "They're at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Pleasantville." Egon stood and called out an order, his voice projecting loudly, "Roland, Eduardo, you, Lita, and the other Dan get into Ecto-1 and get up there now! Lita, get Dan to try and stall Kevin from doing anything to him and Carl."

"But, Egon," Roland stated, "Rockefeller Preserve is almost an hour away!" Eduardo was already hobbling quickly to a pole, "Then we better haul ass and lead-foot it! The turnpike is clear this time of night! Let's go!"

We're coming to get you guys! Lita said as Dan attempted to tune Manny out, You have to stall them! Roland says we're an hour away, but we're gonna try and get there sooner.

Dan now tried to communicate back, An hour? How the hell am I gonna stall these two for an hour?

"Manny," Kevin was very conflicted about his task, "I can't do this! Can't we just keep him tied up instead?" "Goddamnit, Kevin!" Manny spun the boy around and started growling at him, "After everything your dad did to you; the shit he was forcing you to do. Do you really want that life back? Your father, your uncle, and your uncle's boss are all in this together! They will stop Her from coming! The other Ghostbusters will find them with their equipment! Keeping them alive will make them come after us!"

Kevin was starting to clam up as he kept thinking about it. He choked out in fear, "I-I don't want to kill Dan! I didn't wanna kill dad, either!" Carl was starting to break himself. It was like a horrible memory was coming back to him, "Kevin, please, don't make my mistake. All you're gonna do is feel what I feel. Don't do it." That was when Dan remembered something during his arrest. It was fuzzy at first because of the chloroform, but now he remembered what Carl said, "Had I only listened…"

Ecto-1 was driving through the city and heading onto the turnpike. Roland was at the wheel with Old Man Dan in the front passenger seat. Lita and Eduardo were in the back seat. All of them were in full uniform getting ready for the worst. Old Dan had his Proton Pack in the back ready for use as well. Old Dan was getting annoyed, "Come on, man! This thing's got more horsepower than this! Floor it!" "We can't just start driving like maniacs," the black engineer at the wheel stated, "We're starting to run out of vehicles!" "This is a matter of life and death!" the extradimensional Ghostbuster yelled, "We have emergency lights on this thing; light 'em up!"

Lita suddenly jumped. Eduardo looked at her, "Hey, what's wrong?" "It's Dan!" she stated then turned to Eduardo, "What are the exact circumstances of your father's death? He says tell him everything!"

"How can I do any of it, Dad?" Kevin asked with tears in his eyes, "I don't want to be a cop! You can't even tell me why you became a cop! All I know is it was because of grandpa. You just act like you're better than everyone else and think no matter what, your way is the only way. You never told me the truth! Why?"

"Because your dad fucked up." Carl and Kevin looked at the man who made the statement. Dan looked the boy in the eyes as he explained, "Your dad was a troublemaker. No, he was more than just a troublemaker; he was caught roving with a local gang…" "Shannon," Carl stated in a hushed voice, "what are you…" Ignoring him Dan continued, "He got caught trying to do a pot drop as part of an initiation into the gang. The gang was known for going into arcades and taping the bags to the bottoms of pinball machines. He was doing a drop when the arcade was raided. He was in possession of five pounds of contraband.

"Your grandfather was unbelievably pissed at your dad. One night - as part of your dad's punishment - he was with your grandfather and his partner on patrol. He was a minor, so he got it light - part of the reason they go after young boys in gangs: No true punishment. They were underage and immune to being prosecuted." Carl was becoming horrified as he heard his whole backstory was being laid out before them. What was more curious is how Dan could have known all of this when he clearly didn't know before.

"In needing to use the bathroom," Dan continued, "they stopped at a 7-Eleven so he could use it. When inside, one of the gang members that sponsored your dad was in the middle of robbing the store. He recognized him and took him hostage. Your father was going to be killed; no question. Failing horribly and getting caught was a death sentence. They have no problem with killing kids. Your grandfather didn't just plead for his life, he exchanged it for his," Dan looked back to Carl, "That was why your dad put down the gun, wasn't it? Under normal circumstances a cop would refuse to lower their weapon until the perp was on the ground. It was the one thing he could do to show you how much he loved you. Say it, Rivera." Dan watched as Carl hung his head in guilt. He was silent. Dan lost his patience, "I said say it, damn you!"

For the first time in his whole life Kevin Rivera saw tears form in his father's eyes. Hard-boiled NYPD Sergeant Carlos Rivera had tears in his eyes. It was true; all of it. He looked to his son, "Kevin, I wanted you to be a cop so I knew you were gonna be okay. I wanted to believe I was a better father, but I was lying to myself. I wanted to make sure you didn't fall into a gang like I did, but now look at me. I was wrong to do what I did. I did the same thing to your Uncle Eduardo. I wished death on your grandfather because I was so angry at him and it happened. The whole thing was my fault."

"Yeah," Manny stated, "you're sorry now, but only because you repeated the same damn mistake several other kids' families did to them and it's biting you in the ass. So many of us in the Guardian Angel Home had the same sad story. Just because Kevin wasn't orphaned doesn't mean he couldn't feel those feelings of rejection. It just took him longer to figure it out because you're still here."

"If the mistakes are gonna repeat," Carl stated as he looked into his son's eyes, "then let them be done with the right person. Kevin, don't bother shooting Shannon. If I did wrong by you, then shoot me."

Dan suddenly locked up. He started screaming mentally, Uh, we've got a problem here!

Back on the interstate in Ecto-1 Lita was getting a terrible vision. Seeing and hearing what Dan was witnessing she just heard the same thing and it made her freak, "No!" Eduardo jumped in his seat, "What, what's happening, man?" "Carl just told Kevin to… take his life instead! What do we do?!" "We're still another 25 minutes out from the Rockefeller Preserve," Roland said as he looked at his watch and the speedometer, "and I'm already going 110 miles an hour! Ecto-1 can't go any faster!" Old Man Dan grunted, "Where's a can of Liquid Schwartz when you need it?"

Eduardo was trying to think fast. When he was still unaware of his Venus Knight powers he managed to heal Dan of his Man-Bat gashes in his back. If he had a power, "Lita, do the Knights have power when not transformed? Does Dan have one?" Lita was split between her visions in Dan's head and what was happening inside Ecto-1. She was trying to think, "Uh, y-yeah! Dan can manipulate magnetic fields!" Eduardo wasn't sure what that meant, "What good is that gonna do him?"

"Wait," Old Dan turned in his seat to look into the back, "what ya mean he can manipulate magnetic fields?" "He can pick up steel objects with magnetism," Lita explained. Old Dan finally figured it out, "Oh, yeah. Electromancer. Duh." Lita confirmed, "Yeah, it's what he called an incognito power…" it just dawned on her, "Wait, Manny is wearing a bulletproof vest, right? And the handcuffs…"

Dan just got the idea from Lita. Kevin was spun back around by Manny and was now facing Carl. Manny barked, "Kill him! If you have any hope as a member of Asatro, you'll do as your father asks! Then I'll do Shannon and then we can finally report to Madame Holly. Go."

Kevin raised the shotgun again and took aim between his father's eyes. Learning what he just did and knowing his father was no different than him, Kevin was looking conflicted again. He had his finger on the trigger. Carl only said one thing, "Just promise me that after I die, you'll take care of your mother just like I did for your grandmother." With that, he closed his eyes and waited for the trigger to pull…

That was when Kevin lost his nerve.

Kevin dropped the shotgun to the forest floor and started whimpering, "I can't do it, Manny!" Manny lost his patience again making him push the teen boy aside and grabbing the shotgun himself. He readied the gun and proceeded to aim at the original first target…

"Wait!" Dan cried out, "Stop a second! I just wanna ask you something!" Manny lowered the gun and gritted his teeth. It was clear he was getting angry; he really wanted Dan dead, "What? What in the fuck do you want?" "Did you ever wonder how I was able to kick your ass last time?" At first, the Order plant in the NYPD didn't understand, but after a second Manny was starting to realize what was next. He remembered the warehouse fight. He re-aimed the shotgun quickly…

The gun suddenly flew out of Manny's grip. Before he knew it one of Dan's handcuffs unlocked allowing him to pull free and while Manny was disoriented he got to his feet and hit Manny hard in the face. Carl was watching what was happening confused as he saw Dan suddenly become free as the shotgun was clearly flung from Manny's grip without actual force being exerted by Manny. How Dan also got out of his handcuffs…

The two men exchanged blows. Manny used his martial arts skills but Dan countered his moves, his link with Lita allowing him to use her skills to counter Manny's advances. Dan was doing fair in defense until the Order member kicked the Ghostbuster in his stomach. While doubled over Manny threw his arm into Dan's back causing him to fall to his knees. Manny went to dropkick him when Dan threw out his arms and sent an electromagnetic wave at him. The energy pulse grabbed hold of the steel shock plate in Manny's armor as well as his service pistol on his side, throwing him into a nearby tree. Manny hit the back of his head and was now dazed and out of breath from the tree impact. He was down.

Dan was about to stand up, doing so with strain. Carl screamed out to the unsuspecting Ghostbuster, "Shannon, look out!" Too late. He saw a sudden flash before his eyes and a sharp pain in the back of his head. Kevin picked the shotgun back up and hit him in the head with the stock of it knocking him senseless. Running back to Manny, he helped him up and escorted him back to the nearby squad car on the maintenance trail nearby. After a couple of minutes Kevin attempted to get into the driver seat of the police car when he heard his father screaming out at him. Kevin looked back at his father, tied up and helpless. Carl kept telling him to come over and release him. Without saying anything more, Kevin got into the car and started tearing out. The threat was gone, but so was Kevin. He may not have wanted to kill his father, but he was clearly still angry at him.

Dan just went and gave Carl the closure he needed, but it looked to be too late. The police car disappeared into the night leaving the two men alone; one barely conscious, and the other bound up. It was a bad end to a bad night, but it could have been worse. Still, all that was left was thoughts.