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Just the Way You Are	By : megabsupreme Category: +M through R > Real Ghostbusters Views: 3491 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Real Ghostbusters, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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As the heroes descended the stairs of the Manhattan Museum of Art, they each had a very different expression on their faces. Peter’s face was full of the love and devotion he felt for Dana and the little boy who’d so deeply touched his heart. Thanks to the positively charged slime he was now dripping everywhere, Rayace ace was full of the love and devotion he felt for everyone in his general vicinity. Thanks to his inability to move faster with the heavy slime cannon on his back, Winston’s face was full of the aversion and disgust he felt at being in Ray’s general vicinity. And then there was Egon. Egon’s face was full of another emotion entirely.

Rage.

When he was looking out over the crowd, Egon had noticed Louis and Janine standing in the midst of the crowd of on-lookers and New Year celebrants. Janine was wearing her lavender jumpsuit, the one that was too tight around her chest. Egon smiled feeling a sudden tinge of lust. Louis was wearing one of Egon’s jumpsuits. Not very well, mind you, but he was wearing it. They were smiling at each other and laughing, clearly celebrating their victory. They even hugged.

Then Louis locked eyes with Egon, but only for a brief moment. He quickly turned away from Egon and just suddenly bent Janine over backward and kissed her full on the lips. And she didn’t seem to be fighting him! In fact, she was participating! She clutched at him as if he were her very lifeline!

Peter spotted Louis and Janine seconds after the physicist. A cursory glance at Winston told him that he’d be of no help to him. He was currently fending off another slimy group hug from Ray and Janosz. Peter handed Oscar to Dana and started toward Egon. “Spengs?” No answer. “Egon?” He continued to scowl and took a step down to head toward them. “Egon!” He jumped, and then blinked owlishly at his oldest friend. “Egon, I know you’re upset, but don’t do this here. We just won a major battle for the side of good, and it might tarnish our image just a tad if you beat the hell out of a puny tax attorney in front of thousands of witnesses.” At that moment, a bright spotlight shone down on the guys from above. It was a news chopper. “Make that millions of witnesses,” Peter amended, shielding his eyes. “Come on, buddy. We’ll deal with this on the home front.”

Petew thw the utter heartache and misery in his friend’s eyes and then looked back at the kissing couple. He frowned forebodingly. “You better believe we’ll deal with it too,” he bit out caustically.

Egon let out a ragged breath and allowed Peter to steer him away from the pair and toward Ecto without making a spectacle.

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Louis released his death grn Jan Janine, and she straightened up. She looked around to see if anyone had seen. It didn’t appear that anyone had noticed because the guys had come out of the museum with Dana, Oscar and some little eastern European guy who was hugging everyone he could get his hands on.

She glared down at Louis. She’d never been so glad to be taller than a man in her life. “Tully, if you ever lay another hand on me again, you’lll bal back a nub, GOT IT?” Louis blushed and swallowed,dingding furiously. Janine pushed him away from her then scanned the crowd for signs of the guys. She just barely caught a glimpse of them getting into Ecto-1 before they pulled away. She sighed heavily then shrugged. “Oh well, we’ll catch up with them at the firehouse.” She looked around at the crowded street full of merry-makers. “Eventually,” she amended dispassionately.

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Ghostbusters Central – Two hours later . . .

Janine and Louis took a very long time getting back to the firehouse. “Hello!” Janine shouted. “Where’re the conquering heroes?”

There was no answer.

Janine looked at Louis and shrugged. Ecto-1 was parked in its usual place, so she couldn’t imagine where everyone could have gone other than to bed, and that was unlikely with all the excitement.

The pair stripped off their packs and jumpsuits, stowing them away in Janine and Egon’s lockers. “I wonder where they are,” Louis pondered aloud.

“We’re back here.” Peter’s terse tenor drawl carried over the file cabinet. Apparently, the guys were sitting at the table between Janine’s desk and Peter’s office.

Janine briefly wondered why they hadn’t answered her, since her shout was louder than Louis’s off-hand comment, but she really didn’t care. She was excited to see them. It had been a long and adventurous night, and she wanted to hear details. She and Louis made their way around the large metal file cabinet. They were both all smiles, and ready to congratulate the guys on their victory. During the car ride there, Janine was finally able to convince Louis that they probably had little or nothing to do with the guys’ victory over the Carpathian overlord. He was a bit disappointed, but still just relieved that it was over.

The four Ghostbusters were sitting at the table as Janine had expected, but they didn’t look as if twerewere celebrating. Well, maybe Ray did. He was smiling up at them in a hopelessly clueless stupor. His hair was wet, so he’d obviously showered. He must have gotten the mood slime on him. ‘That would explain the insanely happy, super grin,’ she thought with a grimace. Unfortunately, Ray’s was the only friendly face, and his delusional glee was far from comforting. Winston looked very tired. Peter’s face was set in a hard glare. Egon refused to look at her or Louis, and his expression was dismal.

Something was very wrong.

“What’s goin’ on?” she asked. Peter glared even harder at Janine. A sudden horrible realization dawned on her, and she felt her stomach lurch. “Peter . . . oh Peter, is . . . is Dana . . . okay?”

Peter’s expression changed to one of complete surprise. He hadn’t expected her to ask him a question full of such heartfelt concern. It derailed his anger for a moment, but one look at Egon’s devastated face put him back on track. “She’s fine,” he replied through clenched teeth.

“Then . . . oh God, is it Oscar?”

Peter’s face softened again. ‘Damn her! I wanna stay angry!’ “No one was hurt . . . physically.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I meant just what I said!” He was able to work up a goodly amount of bile in his snarled retort, and he was proud of himself for the nastiness of his tone.

“Well what the fuck is your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem, Melnitz! What the fuck is yours?”

Janine stared at Peter with an equally hard expression. She took a very deep, shaky breath and reminded herself that Peter could be a real jerk when dealing with emotional trauma, and he’d almost lost Dana and Oscar tonight. ‘Don’t let him bait you. He doesn’t mean it.’ She turned to walk away. Louis looked around at the four men then turned timidly to follow Janine, clearly terrified to be left alone with the quartet. The shortest of them, Ray, still towered over him.

“Nice shade.” Egon didn’t look up when he spoke.

“Huh?” Both Louis and Janine came back and looked down at him, confused by his stant. nt.

“I said, ‘nice shade’.” Egon repeated it, only he said it louder and more slowly. He sounded sort of like an American trying in arrogant disgust to get foreigners to understand him by yelling at them very slowly, as if they were deaf or something.

“Uh . . . I don’t understand what you mean by that, Egon.” s dis didn’t have the slightest clue what Egon was talking about, but when the blond loo looked up at the tax attorney with a masque of pure hatred, Louis took an involuntary step back.

“I mean . . .” Egon rose menacingly. “That’s a nice shade of lipstick you’re wearing.” He looked very meaningfully at Janine. “Although it looks better on you.”

Janine turned a furious glare on Louis. He was sporting a fair amount of her lipstick all right. She hadn’t even noticed. “Okay, now I get it. You guys saw. Well, it wasn’t how it looked. It was just . . .” EgonEgon put up a hand to silence her. “Spare me,” he muttered quietly, walking toward the stairs.

Janine’s jaw slackened, then she turned her fury on Louis. “TULLY! YOU BETTER TELL THEM WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AND YOU BETTER TELL THEM NOW, GODDAMIT!”

Louis jumped at the volume of her voice. Egon stopped his progress and turned to face her. Louis immediately began stammering and sputtering, trying without success to make words. Without warning, she slapped him silly, knocking him and his glasses to the ground. He sat on the floor clutching his cheek with a shaky hand. “Okay. Okay. It was me. It was me. I’m sorry, Egon. I’m so sorry.” His eyes shone with tears of pain.

Janine was not usually prone to violence against her friends. Three of her four bosses looked shocked. Ray just continued to smile at her with a simpering grin.

Louis snapped out of it and began to quickly blurt out the truth. “It wasn’t Janine. It was me. She . . . she was just so pretty. I just . . . I’ve always liked you Janine. Always!” He said the last word with a frown directed at Egon, who paled. “I just thought that after we saved the museum together, well . . . maybe . . . maybe the moment was special.”

“Louis, for the last time, we did not save anything!”

“I know, I know. I mean, I know now. I just . . . I love you Janine.” Every jaw dropped but Ray’s.

“Well, I don’t love you Louis!” He winced at the cruel tone in which she said this to him. “I . . . love . . . Egon! Do you understand me? EGON!”

“I love you Louis,” Ray chimed in.

“Shut up Ray,” Peter said absently. “And you two just hold on a damn minute. I saw that kiss, Janine, and you were participating.” Peter had snapped out of his shock at the exchange and was quick to point out what he saw as an inconsistency in their story.

“I was not!”

“You were.” Egon stated matter-of-factly.

“Egon! I was not!”

“We all saw you Janine. You were clinging to Louis like your life depended on it.” Winston wouldn’t look her in the eye. He hated to rat her out, but he hated even more that she’d hurt Egon. Even while fighting off Ray’s slimy hugs, he’d seen the kiss, and it looked mutual.

“My life did depend on it! This knucklehead almost dropped me! He just grabbed me and bent me backwards. I had to hold on so tight so I wouldn’t fall! I would’ve been trampled by that crowd!”

“Sure.” This from Peter.

“Mind your own fucking business, Venkman!”

“My friends are my fucking business! You cheated and you know it, Janine! Have the decency to admit it!”

Janine clenched her fists. She closed her eyes and took another steadying breath. She turned her back on the psychologist and grabbed the sides of Egon’s head, forcing him to face her. She looked him straight in the eye, not allowing him to look away. “Egon, you’re a brilliant man. You deal in logic, so I’m begging you to think logically. Do you honestly believe that I would pine for you for nearly half a decade then just cheat on you the first chance I got, and with him of all people?” She brusquely tilted her head at Louis. The tax attorney looked slightly wounded, but was too afraid she’d hit him again to speak in defense of his own attributes as a suitor.

“I . . . I don’t think it’s logical, no, but I also deal in scientific evidence. Truth.e tre truth is, I know what I saw.” His eyes were haunted, recalling the scene.

“You know what you think you saw. I would never cheat on you. Do you understand me? Never. I love you more than life itself. You are the very air I breathe. Please, Egon. I’m asking you to trust me.”

“Who are you gonna believe, her or your lying eyes?” Peter muttered a sinister comment.

“I’m not gonna tell you again, Peter . . . shut the FUCK UP!” She still would not let Egon break eye contact with her. “I love you Egon. I’ve loved you for a long time. I’ve waited for you for an even longer time. I need your trust.”

Winston looked back and forth between the two. This was crazy. After finally landing Spengler, Janine would never cheat on him. He felt like a fool. “Egon?”

“Yes, Winston.” His muttered response was full of hurt and confusion.

“She deserves your trust.” He looked meaningfully at Peter. “She deserves all our trust. I’m sorry Janine. I . . . I think we misjudged you.”

Her eyes shone with fresh tears. Ray smiled even broader at the pair. “I love you Janine!”

Janine’s tears spilled over and she gave a slight choked laugh. “I love you too Ray. And I love you Winston.” She broke her eye contact with Egon and turned to Peter. “I love you Peter.”

He stared back at her, and then lowered his head, ashamed. Janine let go of Egon’s face and went over to Peter, lifting his chin and planting a loving, sisterly kiss on his cheek. She hugged Winston and kissed his cheek too. She smiled broadly at Ray and let him ensnare her in a suffocating bear hug. “Ow,” she wheezed once he finally let her go. Winston and Peter smiled at each other then dodged Ray when he went for them.

Janine turned to face her Egon. He looked tired. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. He then replaced them, and took Janine’s hand, pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry.”

She sighed in content. “I understand how it must have looked.”

“That doesn’t excuse the fact that I should have given you the benefit of the doubt.”

“It’s okay.” He opened his mouth to protest, but she kissed him before he could. “I said it’s okay. Can we please just drop it? It’s over, it was a misunderstanding, and we don’t need to dwell on it.” He sighed and nodded, at a loss for words. She kissed him again. “Still love me?”

“Forever.”

“Then I’m happy!” She smiled at him in a perfect impersonation of Ray. Egon’s lip quivered then he looked at Ray and couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore. The others joined in. They got into a group hug, which Ray made very uncomfortable by hugging the lot of them entirely too tightly. “Ow,” she mumbled then ruffled Ray’s hair, and ducked out of the way when he tried to return the friendly gesture. He pouted a little. “Sorry Ray, but I don’t think my medical insurance will cover any more of your love. But rest assured, I know you love me, ‘kay?”

Ray nodded and smiled again.

Janine turned to Louis. Her smile faded. “You caused me a lot of trouble tonight, Tully. And even if I were single, you just don’t do things that way. Stay away from me from now on or I’ll make you sorry.” And with that, she shouldered him aside, grabbed her car keys, and took off for home.

Louis watched her go, sighing his relief. It was short-lived. He turned back to face the four men and nearly wet himself with fear. All of them were frowning at him, including Ray. Apparently, either the slime’s effects had worn off quite abruptly or he was just faking it to appease Janine.

Winston chastised him first, “The very idea that you’d force your advances on Janine makes me sick.” He was still very upset about what had almost happened to Kel. He never would’ve expected it of Louis.

“She’s always been a friend to you. You should be ashamed.” Ray looked livid.

“And Egon has been too,” Peter snarled.

Louis slowly turned to face Egon, terrified at what he saw in the physicist’s eyes. Merciless anger.

“Louis, if you ever lay so much as a fingernail on Janine again, I’ll make you wish to hell you hadn’t. I can think of a plethora of ways to engulf your entire world in pain. Please don’t force me to implement them.” He leaned down into the smaller man’s face. Louis gulped, shaking convulsively. “Am I understood?” Louis nodded rapidly.

“I . . . I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not. You were hoping this would break us up in a feeble attempt to win her for yourself.”

“But . . .”

“No. I don’t want to hear it. Get your things and leave. Your services as our attorney are no longer needed. Go.”

Louis frowned evilly at Egon. The scientist was taken aback by the pure loathing he saw in the man’s eyes. He didn’t think Louis Tully was capable of looking at anyone with such odium. “Fine.”

And with that, he left, slamming the firehouse door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter’s Apartment – Later that Night . . .

Peter went home as soon as the issue with Janine and Louis was resolved. He found Dana waiting up for him, anxious to know what happened.

“Hey, babe.” He kissed her tenderly. “Why aren’t you ‘sleep?”

“I wanted to know if Egon was okay. I know this must be a major blow for him.” The truth was that she’d had a nightmare and was afraid to go back to sleep. In fact, she’d been having these nightmares for days. She couldn’t remember them, but she knew they involved the guys being hurt or even killed in some. She wanted to tell him, but instead, for some reason, she lied.

“Oh he’s fine. It was a false alarm. Seems Louis made a pass at Janine. I guess you know how that goes. Louis wouldn’t leave you alone either until I threatened to lock him in the containment unit. It was kinda rough having to fire him and all, but I guess it’s not like he didn’t bring it on himself.”

Dana looked a bit surprised at this confession. Then she looked confused. She had a sudden inexplicable surge of hatred at their having fired Louis, followed by an overwhelming urge to tell Peter something that she knew would upset him terribly. She didn’t even want to acknowledge being indignant for Louis’s sake, but she was so ashamed of herself for what she was about to tell Peter because she knew it wasn’t true. She just couldn’t stop herself. Something inside her head said he needed to be told this because he would believe it coming from her.

“Peter. I have something to tell you, and I don’t think you’ll like it. I didn’t say anything before because you guys had alreseenseen them together, but . . . well, I . . .” Shered red at him remorsefully, as if she didn’t really want to tell him. It was all an act, and she felt sickened at herself for playing games with his emotions.

“What?” Peter’s stomach did flip-flops. He already had a feeling of what she was going to say. But he wouldn’t believe it until she said it.

“Well, earlier tonight, when I came back after you guys were arrested, I . . . I caught Janine and Louis in uh . . . an amorous moment,” she ended delicately.

“Are you serious?” Peter’s face fell, and for a moment, Dana was ready to scream that it wasn’t true. But that voice inside her growled at her that she’d better not. In terror, she hastened forth with her lie. “Of course I’m serious, Peter! I’d never say something like that if it weren’t true!”

Peter rubbed his eyes and sighed. He had to give Janine the benefit of the doubt. He couldn’t risk another error like the one from earlier. He loved Janine like family, and if he accused her falsely again, he’d surely lose her friendship for good. “Maybe you misunderstood, like we did.”

Dana frowned at him. “Peter, I know what I saw.”

“Yeah, I know. But we knew what we saw too, and we were wrong.” Dana’s frown deepened. “I’m just saying, Dana . . .” he protested. “I need to be sure. That’s all.”

Dana looked at him as if he’d stabbed her in the back. Then she described a fictitious scenario of what she saw when she came back to his apartment. “I came in, the lights were dimmed, so I flicked them on. Louis got up off the couch, and I saw that he’d been lying on top of someone. Then Janine sat up. Louis tried to stutter an apology, but Janine seemed totally unconcerned. She asked me how my date was with a cocky smile, the whole while buttoning her blouse. Now, do you think I misunderstood?”

Peter’s jaw dropped. Then he turned red with anger. “Fucking lying slut! She begged us to trust her! She looked Egon right in the eye and lied to him!”

Dana placed a comforting hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Peter. I know how much she means to you.”

“Yeah, well not anymore. Egon comes first.”

Dana was torn. Part of her felt horrible doing this to Janine. She had been a great friend to Dana over the years, being the only one who’d kept in regular contact with her after she and Peter broke up. And Egon . . . he’d be devastated. But the other part of her said to herself that Peter was too close to Janine and that this was better for Dana. Her benevolent side tried to argue, but was overpowered by the cruel, controlling voice. ‘Do as you’re told! Cross me and regret it!’ Dana sighed and hugged Peter. She had no idea what that other voice was, but she wasn’t going to argue with it. If it was real, she was scared of it, and if it wasn’t . . . well, then she was just plain nuts, and what was the sense of arguing with herself?

‘What’s happening to me?’ she thought desperately.
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Just the Way You Are