[Rated ‘PG’ by CJ. Note: This story is only ‘based’ on the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.]

Early morning, inside a deserted warehouse in downtown New York, three goblins were making more than enough trouble for the Ghostbusters.

“Yeee oww!” squawked Peter Venkman as one of the ghosts threw a large empty cardboard box at him. It caught him a glancing blow across the back of his neck and shoulders. “OK, that does it!”

He fired his ion cannon at the fleeing goblin and brought it down into the range of the trap Stantz had set on the floor. “One down, two to go!” Ray enthused.

Egon and Winston made short work of the second goblin, but it took all four of them to contain the third.

I was standing at what I thought was a safe distance when the last but not least of the ghosts hurtled through the warehouse doors and knocked me over. As I fell I hurt my ankle and I cried out in agony.

“Gee you OK?” Peter asked rushing up to me. “Yeah, nothing…ooh, ow, I think my ankle’s twisted” I sputter, trying to get up.

“Here let me help you” Peter took my hand and pulled me up, but I couldn’t stand on my left foot. “Thanks, I think I’d better get myself down the hospital, just to make sure.”

“I’ll take you” my boss, George, called, running over. He took my other hand and he and Peter helped me into his car.

Fortunately it was only a modest sprain, so they just bandaged it up and told me to take it easy for a week or so.

Upon their return to GB-HQ the Ghostbusters were relived to learn that there were no more calls to be made for the rest of the day, so they decided to make the most of the free time.

Egon and Ray went upstairs into Egon’s lab to continue with an ongoing project, Peter crashed out in his office and Winston headed into the basement to empty the traps.

The remainder of the day passed peacefully, interspersed with a few of Slimer’s antics with Peter!!

****

A few days later…

I was on my way out to lunch when George came running up to me and handed me an envelope marked ‘Ghostbusters’. “Can you take this and drop it in on your way Clare please?” My usual lunchtime walk took me virtually right past their place. “It’s their monies for that bust they did at the Warehouse the other day.” “Yes, of course” I replied.

I still needed a walking stick just in case my ankle suddenly gave way, so I gathered my coat and bag and headed off.

When I got there the front door was already slightly open and I could see Ray and Winston ‘dressed-down’ and washing the Ecto-1 in the garage. I pushed the door open and walked in.

Ray looked up, “Oh, hello Clare.” “How’s your ankle?” “It’s a lot better than it was thank you.” “I’ve brought your monies” I replied.

Janine walked over and I handed her the envelope. “Oh, right, thanks very much, would you like a receipt?” “Please?” I replied.

While I was waiting Peter walked over to me. “Hi” he said as we shook hands. “I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend.”

“Yeah, it’s improving steadily, though I still need this just in case.” “It feels a bit weak sometimes.”

Janine handed me the receipt. “Thanks Janine.” “Right I’ll be on my way, my stomach needs refuelling!”

“Let me treat you to lunch” Peter jumped in just as I went to walk away. I looked at him surprised.

“Well, it was kinda my fault that that ghost got outside and knocked you over, the least I can do is buy you some lunch!” He beamed at me hopefully.

“Oh look you don’t have to do that, I shouldn’t have been standing so close anyway.”

“It’s no trouble, really” Peter replied. “Well, if you’re sure.” “Alright then, that’d be nice, thank you Peter.” He grabbed his jacket and escorted me out of the front door.

“Typical!” Janine huffed. “Most unscientific” Egon commented walking down the stairs. “Well you know Pete!” Winston laughed. “Yeah, though I wish he’d give the rest of us a break sometimes!” Ray added.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but to my surprise it was a very pleasant lunch. On the way back Peter told me all about his latest ‘busting’ exploits.

When we arrived at the Firehouse I went to say goodbye, but Peter insisted on us meeting up again on the following Friday evening. “Oh, well, alright… I suppose so!” I relented.

“Great!” he smiled and went inside while I headed back to work.

Friday evening came and I’d only just had enough time to get myself ready after battling with the traffic on the way home. I wasn’t sure where we’d be going, so I put on a smart dress. It was a good thing I did as Peter had booked us into a reasonably upmarket restaurant. Not the most expensive, but ‘posh’ enough!!

“That was delicious, thank you” I said over an after dinner brandy. “Glad you enjoyed it” he replied.

It was getting on for 10pm when we finished our meals and I was beginning to get a little tired.

“Ooh, excuse me!” I laughed, stifling a small yawn. “I’ve been really busy today, we had a big order to rush through and half the paperwork was missing!”

“I know what you mean” Peter replied. “All too often I’m too tired at the end of the day to even contemplate going out.” “I’d like to do so more often…” his voice trailed off. I could tell he missed his ‘social life’ quite a lot.

“Would you like to come back to the Firehouse?” he asked. “Won’t your friends have turned in by now?” I replied looking at my watch. “Nah, they’ll be too wrapped up in something or other!” he laughed.

We took a cab back to GB-HQ. Peter unlocked the door as it was always kept locked after Janine went home.

“Welcome to my humble home” he laughed. We walked upstairs and found Ray and Winston watching TV. Egon was ensconced in his lab as usual.

“Hi Clare!” Ray enthused. We sat down and chatted for a while and then Peter took me on a guided tour of the Firehouse.

It was all very intriguing but I began to feel anxious about what would happen after my impromptu ‘science lesson’ was over.

Whatever Peter had had in mind was interrupted somewhat when while showing me the Containment Unit, Slimer dashed down the stairs to greet us and ended up giving Peter a face full of slime!!

“Slimer!” he shouted out, momentarily forgetting my presence. He went to run after him, but thought better of it.

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “I’m sorry, but that was a classic!” I giggled. “He’s always doing it, it drives me SO crazy!” Peter huffed.

“Dear me, you certainly can’t be accused of leading a boring life Peter!” I laughed. He raised his eyebrows and grinned, “True, but a bit of peace and quiet now and then shouldn’t be too much to ask.”

Once he was sure we were alone he put his arms around my waist and hugged me close to him and rested his chin on my shoulder.

I put my hands over his arms and he kissed my neck softly. “Mmm, you taste nice” he whispered in my ear.

A huge smile formed on my face and I felt a warm rush of something pulse through my entire body. ‘What am I getting into here’ I thought to myself.

Just then Ray barged in without thinking to knock first and interrupted us ever so slightly.

Peter glared at him. “Ooops, sorry!” he apologised quickly. He retrieved the magazine he’d come for and retreated quickly.

I had to laugh. “See what I mean, I can’t do anything around here without them knowing about it!” Peter groaned.

“Well, I really should be going anyway, I’m sure you’ll be busy tomorrow.” I was pretty tired by now as well.

Peter phoned for a taxi to take me back and while we waited, we stood in the garage chatting.

I spent the rest of the weekend trying to ‘get my head together’ over the events of the last few days. Wondering quite what would be next on the agenda, though I had a vague idea!!

When I got to work on Monday, I’d been spotted with Peter by one of my work colleagues.

“Hey, how was your date with Peter Venkman?!” Shelley asked. “Wha…how you know about that?!” I replied rather forcefully.

“I saw you in Luigi’s on Friday night.” “I thought about saying hello, but when I saw who you were with I thought better of it!” she laughed.

“Well, it started out with lunch.” “He wanted to ‘apologise’ for my sprained ankle when they did that bust at the warehouse.” Shelley listened intently. “Then he invited me to dinner as well.” “He was only being friendly…”

Before I could think of a good excuse for him, Shelley jumped in. “It looked a bit more than that to me, judging by the way he was looking at you!!”

I had to admit that it had been more than just a simple apology. However much I might try and deny it, it had more or less become a proper date.

“Well, I’m not going to jump to any conclusions, I’ll just cross each bridge as they come” I added.

Shelley sniggered and walked away, confident that she’d have some new material for the office ‘grapevine’ if nothing else!!

My feelings were very mixed up for the next couple of days and I quite forgot that Peter said he’d call as soon as he got back from their New England bust over the weekend.

However I soon found out the reason why. The newspapers were full of features about the bust. It’d been a really big one and it’d taken them longer than expected.

It was Friday evening before Peter called. He sounded pretty tired and fed up.

“Sorry Clare, I tried to phone from…” his voice was cut short as I heard Slimer messing around in the background.

“Don’t worry about it, I heard about the job so I knew you wouldn’t be back anyway” I replied.

“So, would you like to go out tonight?” he asked. “Well, if you’re sure you feel OK, you sound terrible!” I laughed.

“Well I am pretty worn out I must admit” he replied, yawning. “Look, why don’t you just come round here, I’ve got some wine in the fridge…”

Peter needed no more encouragement!! “Stay right there babe, I’m on my way!” he chortled and hung up!!

I tidied my place up a bit before he arrived, but as it happened I had plenty of time. It was about 45 minutes later when there was a knock at the door.

“Hello, sorry I took so long, Slimer gunked me just as I was leaving, so I had to change again!!” “Here…”

I laughed and he handed me a big bunch of flowers. “Oh… thank you, they’re lovely!” I stared at him for a moment, unsure what to do next.

I looked down at the flowers and plucked up the courage to break the silence.

“Sit yourself down while I fetch a vase.” Peter went into the lounge while I rummaged around in the cupboard. “Nice place” he commented.

“Oh, thanks, I’ve just finished redecorating.” “I’ve lived here for about 3 years and it’s taken me all this while to get it done!” I laughed.

I found a vase that was big enough to take the bouquet and placed it on my dining table. “There we go.”

We began the evening by chatting about work, until Peter got fed up with reminding himself about Slimer’s antics and abruptly ‘changed tack’.

I put my glass down on the coffee table and Peter interpreted it as his cue for a big hug!!! Setting his own glass down he pulled me closer to him and kissed my cheek softly.

After all that had gone on between us I still felt a little hesitant about allowing things to go any further than they had already. Sure Peter was nice enough, even quite cute, but I knew I’d always come second and it put me off a fair bit.

Still, no harm in having some fun, I thought as he put his arm around my shoulders and snuggled up to me.