“Brother Raymond!” Angela slapped on a bright smile and slipped into an ingratiating tone. “Hi! Long time, no see. How ya doin’?”
Ray crossed his arms over his chest slowly, but couldn’t hide the tug of a smile at his lips. “As well as can be expected. Who’re your friends?”
“Huh?” The girl looked confused for a moment before the taller one elbowed her in the ribs. “Ow--Oh, you mean them!” Angela gave a nervous chuckle as she indicated the two boys. “This is Maxwell.” She slapped the taller in his back, receiving a quick glare for her exuberance. “And this is Dave.” Peter noticed that she was careful not to touch Dave.
Ray nodded to both of them. “A pleasure to meet you.” The boys nodded back respectfully. “Now, what can the holy church do for you?”
Angela nervously chuckled again, but before she could come up with an excuse, Maxwell stepped forward.
“If you’ll excuse me, sir.” The boy’s foot began to tap the floor at a very rapid pace as he spoke. “We really hadn’t anticipated….”
“I’ll handle it.” Angela told the tall young man before facing Ray. “I’ll level with you. Like Maxwell said, I thought you had gone with Father Brian to the conference in Pennsylvania.”
“As you can see, I’m still here.” Ray smiled. “Is there any reason why you were sneaking in?”
“The door was open.” Angela looked hurt. “And didn’t you say that the church was always willing to listen to any who come seeking guidance?”
“Actually, we wanted to hear Angie sing, sir.” Dave spoke up after he looked from Brother Raymond to Angie and back. “Angie said she was in the church choir, and she gets nervous when we asked to hear some hymns, so me and Max figured if she were at church, she’d be willing to sing for us.”
Maxwell nodded quickly. “And a few prayers to the Lord wouldn’t hurt either.”
Ray nodded, still smiling. “Very well, my children. I have to finish working on the next newsletter, but I trust you won’t make a mess.” He turned knowing eyes to Angela. “Right, Angie?”
“Yessir.” Angie nodded quickly. “Won’t touch the holy stuff. Gotcha.” The three kids waited politely as Ray stepped away from the altar and toward a door that was to the left of the statue of Mary. When Ray had opened the door and closed it behind him, Angela turned to the two young men.
“Finally. I never thought he was gonna leave,” she sighed with relief. “Good thinking, Dave.”
“Well, we are planning on hearing you sing. Just not the hymns Brother Raymond expects.” Dave said with a smile. “And you were taking too long.”
“Picky, picky, picky.” Angie waved a hand at him with an friendly, irritated look in her eyes. “C’mon. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Maxwell snorted. “You think we should’ve asked Chris?”
“Nah.” Dave shook his head. “He can’t sing.”
“Oh, thank you for the overwhelming vote of confidence.” Angie returned with a small smile. “Okay, you two in front of the altar. You can fight over who’s standing at who’s left.”
The boys rolled their eyes before standing before the altar, waiting as Angie lightly hopped up the stairs of the dais and placed both of her hands on the stone surface. “Ready?” she asked the pair.
They looked at each other before turning to her and nodding their assent.
“Okay…. Let’s see…” Angie dug around in a pocket until she brought out a folded piece of paper. “Here we go. Now…” Five pairs of eyes watched her as she unfolded the paper and smoothed it out on the altar’s surface.
Angela cleared her throat before starting. “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here today to join Maxwell Langston and Dave Rochester in the bonds of holy matrimony.”
“They’re getting married?” Egon blinked in surprise as Dave’s hand strayed to take Maxwell’s hand gently.
“Sure looks like it.” Peter answered, watching with rapt attention as he went around the couple to join Angie behind the altar and look at the piece of paper curiously. “She’s got what the priest is supposed to say and everything.”
“If there is anyone who opposes this union, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” Angela continued, as if the two Ghostbusters hadn’t interrupted.
“Shhh.” Winston shook his head at Peter, his attention wandering from the simple ceremony to glance around the rest of the hall, his grip on his thrower tightening.
“Well, good.” Angie grinned at the pair. “Nobody’s objecting. Okay, you guys have any particular order you want this to happen?”
“I’ll go first.” Maxwell spoke up, his foot starting to tap the floor rapidly.
“Y’know, Thumper, you’re gonna make a hole in the floor in a minute.” Dave teased, stepping lightly on the tapping foot to hold it down. Maxwell blushed, but Dave chuckled and nudged the taller boy with his elbow.
Angela nodded, turning a little to face the dark-haired kid fully. “Maxwell, do you take Dave to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
Maxwell nodded, giving Dave a nudge. “I do.”
“And do you, Dave, take Maxwell to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do.” Dave nodded before nudging back.
“Okay…” Angela squinted at the paper before remembering. “Oh yeah, the rings. Who’s got ‘em?”
“Right here.” Dave didn’t have to pause as he gave a small box to her.
“Oh, good.” Angie grinned as she opened the box. “Face each other and don’t kiss yet.”
“Despite what you may think, we’re not about to make out in a church.” Dave smiled.
“Ha. That’ll be the day.” Angie snorted as she gave the boys each a ring. “And you’re starting first, Dave?”
“Okay. Take his left hand and lemme find your vows. It’ll take just a sec.” She muttered to herself as she dug into the pockets of her coat.
There was a long creak, causing Winston to turn to the source of the noise. The newcomer was a young man of about the same age as the three kids, wearing a football jersey and carrying a gun. An automatic.
“Oh, no.” Winston shook his head slowly. The young man lifted the gun to point at Angela behind the altar. “God…”
Peter looked up with a frown at Winston’s voice, his eyes widening in alarm. He wheeled to look at the girl, who was now in the process of emptying her pockets onto the altar, muttering to herself.
Winston turned back just in time to see Peter start to move. “No, Peter! She’s already--”
“Angie, get down!” Peter exclaimed, grabbing the girl’s shoulders and shoved her out of the way, hoping his momentum would be enough to get the both of them out of danger.
“Peter!” Egon shouted in alarm.
Shots reverberated through the church, and as four stunned pairs of eyes watched, blossoms of red bloomed from Peter’s side, one after another as more bullets whizzed into his jumpsuit. Peter let out a harsh scream of pain as he fell to the floor. Angela stared down at the dark-haired Ghostbuster and wheeled around to face the shooter.
“*Ray*!!!” she screamed as more shots rang out, catching her by surprise as she felt hot rivets of pain hit her straight in the chest. Her eyes were already empty as soon as she hit the floor.
The two boys turned as one before Dave was able to shove the taller boy to right side of the altar. “Run for the door!”
Winston saw Ray run out of the room he had retired to, and as he threw a quick glance to the young man with the gun, he ran forward as he saw the barrel rise to aim at the redheaded man. He knew he was going to get hit, and if the way Peter had fallen was any indication, he was going to die, too. He threw himself in front of the younger man, making sure to shield him as more shots fired.
There was peculiar burning sensation as Winston felt *something* whiz through his chest, but as he watched, Ray stopped in his tracks, a ribbon of holes opening in his chest. Surprised, icy blue eyes stared at into Winston’s astonished eyes as he fell to his knees. His body swayed uncertainly before falling forward and landing with a thud on the carpeted dais at the taller man’s feet. Blood began to spread out from under his chest, staining the limp arms and spreading to coat his shoulders and neck.
“Ray!” The dark man exclaimed, turning at the sound of a new voice.
“DIE!!!” The shooter screamed, as one of his hands went to hold his head. He kept his finger wrapped tightly around the trigger. His erratic sweeps of the arms forced the fleeing pair to run low, racing pew after pew toward the double doors at the front of the church. There was a shout of pain from one side, and as soon as a dark head of hair sporadically rose into view, more shots followed.
“Come back here! You spawns of hell, if I have to drag you out myself, I’ll kill every last one of you!” The kid screamed, running for the front door. As soon as the brown-haired boy came into view, blood spattered the ground and walls as blossoms hit first his leg and stomach, and then trailed up his chest as his head flew back.
“MAX!” The agonized shout stopped abruptly as a line of holes erupted on the young man’s face, blood spraying from the wounds.
“Demon spawn!” The kid with the gun screamed. He wheeled around to the statue of Mary, the rapidly firing gun following. There was a loud crack amidst the flurry of bullets, and then one of the statue’s fingers fell to the ground.
The young man froze, releasing the trigger as if it were white-hot and took a few steps toward the statue. When he could see the place where he had shot off the finger, he swallowed nervously, his eyes widening.
“Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no.” The boy sunk to his knees, both hands going to the sides of his head as he squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. “Nooo!”
The boy’s eyes suddenly snapped open and as he looked up at the statue with wide eyes, he quickly brought the gun up to rest the barrel under his chin. He pulled the trigger, his lifeless body falling awkwardly backwards to drape over his calves and feet like a discarded marionette.
For an endless moment, the only sound that echoed in the large room was the harsh, conscious breathing of two Ghostbusters, rooted to the spot by the horror they had witnessed and forcing themselves to take on the suddenly arduous task of breathing. In the space of two heartbeats, however, Egon raced to Peter’s side, blue eyes alive with fear.
The proton pack was off of Venkman’s back in seconds and tossed aside as blue eyes frantically scanned the man’s body. “Peter,” came the scientist’s terse response to the pale form he saw. He knelt down to one side, leaning closer to see that the dark-haired Ghostbuster was in fact still breathing, albeit very slowly.
“Peter, I’m going to turn you over.” Egon warned before gently taking the man’s quaking shoulders and turned him slowly to rest on his back.
“’gon…” Peter’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and as dark green slivers moved to look the scientist in the eye, Egon knew that it was bad. Worse than bad. The blond man slid his hand underneath Peter’s head to cradle it. “….Angie?” Peter asked breathlessly.
Egon had to blink a few times to remove the tears from his eyes. “She’s… as well as can be expected,” he managed to force out. Considering the fact that she had been dead in order to become part of the repeater, it was true in a sense. It was unfortunate that the girl’s soul hadn’t found its eternal rest yet.
Peter weakly snorted before starting to cough uncontrollably. When he had recovered from his hacking fit, he gave Egon a glare weakened by the fact that his eyes were glazed over with pain. “You okay, Spengs?”
“I’m uninjured,” Egon assured him. “Though I do not think I can say the same for you.” Egon tore his gaze away from Peter’s darkened eyes to the fact that he could feel a warmth staining his dark blue jumpsuit. The taller man found he had difficulty swallowing, and slowly reached for the bloody wounds on Peter’s side.
Peter gasped and squeezed his eyes tightly as he felt cool fingers touch the gunshot wounds, baring red teeth as he struggled to keep from shouting. “Just a scratch… there, Egon… No… biggie.”
“This isn’t a scratch, Peter.” Egon replied firmly, giving the injured man a hard look for good measure. When he saw the look on Peter’s face, his now wet fingers jumped back from the wound as if it were a live wire. “You know this as well as I.”
Peter shook his head slowly with a weak smile, though it looked more like his head lolling around. “’gon…?”
Egon had to lean in closer to hear Peter’s rapidly fading voice. “Peter?”
“…love you…”
Egon squeezed his eyes shut against a sudden flood of tears. “No, Peter,” he whispered back. “No… You can’t leave me. Don’t go…”
Peter’s eyelids drooped a millimeter lower. “don’…wanna…” A new coughing fit, much weaker than the one before, disturbed the near peacefulness of the…
/No,/ Egon shook his head. /No… he isn’t…. No! I refuse to believe it!/
“’gon…?” Peter asked, his weak fingers curling over Egon’s as his eyes widened in fear.
“I’m here…” Egon whispered back.
A moment later, the cold fingers holding onto Egon’s hand loosened their grip.
Egon squeezed his eyes tight, tears finally released from them to race down his face. With a silent hitch of his shoulders, he leaned forward to kiss one cooling cheek before burying his face into Peter’s neck and releasing a long sob. How long he remained like that, Egon wasn’t sure, but it was too much too soon when a warm hand touched his shoulder sympathetically.
“Egon.”
Egon didn’t move other than to shake his head and gather Peter’s still form closer, rocking slightly as his arms surrounded and enclosed the stiffening shoulders.
“Egon…” Winston sighed, feeling the tears forming in his own eyes as the weight of a thousand sorrows descended. “I know it hurts…”
While Winston had been hoping to get a reaction out of the usually composed physicist, he was caught off-guard when Egon whipped his head to face him, blue eyes blazing and a snarl curling his lips.
“’You know’?!” Egon shouted, his deep voice cutting through the still air like a knife. “How could you *possibly* know how it feels?! Have you ever seen someone you love *shot* before your eyes?!”
Winston didn’t respond as Egon kept raging, releasing his pent-up fury at the situation, and when the scientist finally collapsed into sobs, his head drooping and his shoulders and chest shaking with the force of his grief. He was too exhausted to object when Winston gently removed Egon’s arms and laid Peter down on the floor, rousing only to reach out and brush the hair around the well beloved face. Winston knelt beside him and took a firm grasp of his shoulders, letting the blond head wearily fall to his shoulder. He didn’t object when he felt shaking arms wrap around his neck.
“Please, Winston,” Egon breathed into his ear desperately, his words a shadow of his normally strong, deep voice. “Tell me it doesn’t get worse…”
Winston shook his head slowly. “Wish I could…”
He felt humbled when the other man’s shoulders shook and Egon sobbed into his shoulder. It was as if the man couldn’t cry enough for the pain to stop hurting. He almost couldn’t take a firm grip on the scientist’s shoulders to pull him back far enough to look into the grief-stricken face.
“Egon… Ray’s…”
The rich blue eyes widened, still shimmering with tears as he stared at Winston. The shock began to take hold, and as realization sunk in, Egon sluggishly turned his head to look around.
“…Ray?” Egon’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Egon…”
Egon catapulted out of Winston’s arms, his eyes transfixed on the vision before him. Ray lay on the ground, his face settled into the ominously serene lines of death. The sleeves of his khaki-colored jumpsuit were stained a dark red, crossed over his chest to cover an even larger crimson patch. The eyes that were normally wide awake were now heavily lidded, a sliver of the unnatural blue flickering out from underneath eyelashes.
Egon had difficulty swallowing, staggering forward toward the younger man. His legs gave out underneath him, jarring his knees painfully as he landed by Ray’s side. Winston was at his side immediately, but stopped with not a little reluctance as Egon gazed down at the quiet form with a look that he couldn’t readily identify.
“…Ray…” Blue eyes filled, shining brightly. Slowly, Egon reached out to take one of the cooling hands in his. Bowing his head, the scientist shut his eyes tightly as he squeezed the lifeless hand and kissed the fingers gently.
Winston opened his mouth to say something, anything… but he wasn’t sure if there was anything that he could say. He had seen a lot of death during his tour of duty in Vietnam, but at least then he had known *why*. He couldn’t begin to explain why this had happened. Still, as in Vietnam, the threat was not necessarily gone, and if there was any more trouble, he and Egon would have to be ready.
The black man knelt beside the shaking, taller form and rested a gentle, supporting hand on a broad shoulder. The move caused Egon to look up at him with a blank expression.
“Egon… I’m sorry, but we have to make sure there’s not gonna be more trouble.”
Egon opened his mouth to speak, but as he mulled over the practical request, he sighed deeply and let whatever rejoinder he wanted to say to die on his lips. “At least help me to move Raymond.”
Winston didn’t miss the underlying message. It was hard dealing with someone’s death, but in combat, it was even worse. Who knew what other creepy-crawlies were going to crawl outta the woodwork next to attack them? Or, as improbable as it sounded, the bodies?
“Right.” The shorter man nodded. “I’ll take his legs.”
With a grunt as they picked him up off the floor, the pair made their way to Peter’s side and gently set their burden down as Egon’s gaze turned again to Peter. Without a word, Egon knelt between the two, taking Peter’s right hand and Ray’s left in his shaking grip. Winston watched for a moment before kneeling and brushing the redhead’s hair away from his face. Long moments passed.
Winston’s thoughts were churning as he stared into Ray’s and Peter’s peaceful faces. *This is a repeater. Or at least, Ray thought so. If he was right, we don’t know how long until it starts again…* His gaze lifted to the blond scientist. *We can wait a few more minutes. Egon needs this.* As he looked away, feeling the other’s grief too private to intrude upon, a brief flash caught Winston’s eye.
Standing up slowly on stiff legs, the black man walked to the other side of the altar where the blood stained the carpeting. The shine didn’t fade as he walked over, and as he bent down to get whatever it was, he could see it was part of the locket that Ray had taken from the statue of Mary. He turned it over in his hands before absently putting it in his pocket.
/Peter…/ Egon whispered inside of himself. /Peter… how could you do this to me? What possessed you to think that you could alter a course of events that already happened? Why did you sacrifice yourself to save a ghost? Peter, dammit, answer me!/
He turned to look at Ray, who looked as peaceful, if not more so than Peter’s body beside him. /And you, Raymond… To recklessly risk yourself to retrieve a locket, of all things, and then to walk straight into a room where gunshots are fired is completely inexcusable./
“You…” Egon gritted his teeth, feeling his anger flaring up as he stared at the engineer’s face and not caring one bit. “You bastards…You can’t both leave me!”
He almost missed the light squeeze in his right hand.
The physicist froze for a moment, his heart breaking again as a trickle of hope rushed in and grew to a torrent, before wheeling to see Peter’s face. “Peter?”
“…mmm…” The dark eyebrows lowered a little as Peter’s hand squeezed his again. “…’gon…”
“Peter!” Egon leaned over to see Peter’s slight wince, barely noticing Winston’s form out of the corner of his eye looking at him with shocked disbelief.
“Egon? Homeboy?”
Egon took a deep breath and tried to calm down, even though his heart was beating rapidly. “Peter, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand.”
A faint squeeze answered him, followed by a flutter of the psychologist’s eyelids.
Egon and Winston shared a look that communicated the impossibly dizzying relief and joy they both felt. “Ray.” Winston turned to the downed occultist, lighting patting the younger man’s cheeks. Winston’s face lit up, his smile brighter than a sunrise as Ray’s eyes fluttered open.
“Peter!” Egon gathered the dark-haired man into his arms and rested his cheek against Peter’s hair. “Thank God…”
“…mmmm,” Ray murmured, sleepy brown eyes looked up at Winston. “What’d I miss?”
“A helluva lot, m’man.” Winston said with obvious relief. “Think you can get up?”
“…a little tired.” Ray winced a little.
“Considering the circumstances, that is believable, though not wholly conducive to the situation at hand.” Egon gave the occultist a weak smile as he turned back to Peter. “Can you stand?”
“Mmmm…could sleep like the dead,” Peter mumbled, snuggling further into Egon’s shoulder.
“You nearly did,” Egon barely managed a dry tone as he firmly but gently pulled Peter back enough to look him in the eye. “You are getting up, Dr. Venkman, even if I have to drag you to your feet, or possibly dump a pot of hot coffee in your lap.”
Peter’s eyes shot wide open in a matter of seconds. He had already learned from experience that Egon wasn’t adverse to such a horrifying measure. “I’m up! I’m up!”
Egon snorted as he helped the psychologist to his feet, seeing Ray stand with Winston’s help out of the corner of his eye. It took a few minutes to get Peter and Ray to walk without stumbling by themselves, but as soon as they were able, Winston turned to look at Egon.
v “So, Egon, what the hell just happened?” Winston asked, his eyes flicking to the different parts of the church. “’Cause that sure as hell wasn’t like any repeater I’ve ever seen.”
“My sentiments exactly.” Egon agreed before turning to his own thoughts. /It appears this repeater is something quite different./ “I believe I have a theory, but I wish to test something out. If you would follow me, gentlemen...”
He moved quickly to the double doors with the other three and turned the knob. The door gave easily, swinging inwards a little. Closing the door, Egon stepped back. “Ray, if you would open the door.”
“But you just opened it, Egon.” Ray frowned. Egon gave him a look and turned to his PKE meter, keeping it pointed at the door.
At the blond scientist’s look, Ray shrugged. “Okay.” He tried the knob, and immediately frowned. He tried turning it again, but the obstinate clicking of a locked door answered him.
“Fascinating.” Egon murmured as he glanced at Peter. “Try it, Peter.”
“You’re probably just turning it the wrong way, Stantz.” Peter motioned for Ray to move, and tried the knob himself. The door was locked.
“Here, lemme see it.” Winston reached for the knob and when he tried it, the door swung open easily.
“Okay, this is starting to creep me out.” Peter turned to give Egon a glare, which was completely ineffective as Egon was still fascinated by the readouts on the PKE meter. “You got an explanation for this or what?”
“Fascinating,” Egon murmured again, fiddling with more buttons as he scanned Ray with the meter. At a distinct throat clearing from Peter, he looked up with his usual serious expression and absently pushed up his glasses. “I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
Peter shrugged. “Good news first. I don’t think we’ll have anymore good news on this bust.”
“There is no trace of the Class Three that was possessing Ray.”
“That’s something.” Winston remarked. “What’s the bad news?”
“Peter and Ray are now part of the repeater.”
“What’re you talking about, Spengler?” Peter demanded. “A repeater’s supposed to be like a broken record, right? How the hell can we be part of it?!”
“I don’t know exactly, but both of you are registering on the meter with the same residuals as the Class Threes did.”
“But all of us are, aren’t we?” Winston asked.
Egon shook his head as he turned to the PKE meter to scan the dark man. “You aren’t registering, and the door didn’t register anything when you turned the knob.”
Ray snapped his fingers. “That must’ve been part of what Brother Raymond was talking about.”
“What do you mean?” Egon asked him.
“Brother Raymond was starting to say something to me before Angie came in. He said that the repeater started up whenever someone opened the locket.”
“But you broke the locket, didn’t you?” Peter asked the youngest man.
Ray looked a little shame-faced. “Well, yeah.”
“Perhaps that’s how you’ve become part of the repeater,” Egon concluded.
“I know you’ve got a theory, Spengs.” Peter said flatly. “Why don’t you just tell us so that we can figure out what to do next?”
“The locket may have been a way to observe the repeater without needing to fear being injured.” Egon told him, returning the meter to his belt. “When the locket broke, the failsafe was removed.”
“Why was it that Peter and Ray were shot, but we weren’t?” Winston asked him, crossing his arms absently. “I was standing right in front of Ray and the bullets went through me as if I wasn’t there.”
“Perhaps you weren’t.” Egon said. “The repeater could also be selective, now that the failsafe is removed. What is the difference between what Winston and I did and Peter and Ray?”
“I was possessed,” Ray offered.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t.” Peter shook his head.
“You did try to save Angie from getting shot,” Winston pointed out.
“And unlike any other ghosts that we’ve observed, she became solid despite the fact that by definition Class Threes generally aren’t corporeal in nature.” Egon replied. “You were able to throw her to the ground before she could be shot behind the altar, which must have happened originally.”
“So, if we get possessed or if we try to save the ghosts, we’ll be caught up in the repeater, too?” Winston asked the blond scientist. Egon shook his head.
“I think a simpler explanation might be in order.” He replied. “Didn’t you attempt to save Raymond, Winston?”
Winston nodded. “Yeah. The bullets just went through me like I wasn’t there.” His eyes lit up as he understood and he snapped his fingers in triumph. “They didn’t touch me ‘cause I wasn’t touching Ray, right?”
“It sounds like Tag,” Ray disagreed. “When we try to interact with the ghosts, we come into play.”
“You’re saying that if we try to do anything to the ghosts, we’re open season for that kid with the gun?” Peter winced. “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have taken a swan dive to save the girl.”
“Yes, you would have, Peter, but that is beside the point,” Egon replied, frowning as he absently paced down the aisle toward the altar. “If anyone ‘in play’ can affect the ghosts then perhaps we can stop the shooter.”
“That’s a good idea.” Ray nodded as he followed the taller man. As he walked, a pale cloud of color slowly lightened the engineer’s irises until they were completely pale blue. “Maybe we can help the ghosts disperse without having to trap them.”
“I dunno, guys.” Winston shook his head. “There was something about that kid…”
“Well, there’s always something about kids these days, Zed.” Peter said breezily, patting the worried man on the shoulder before taking up position beside Ray. As he glanced at the redheaded man, Peter’s eyebrows shot up. “Brother Raymond, right?”
Ray nodded back calmly.
