(no subject)

[gone_byebye]

Continued from here:

There were meters. There were sensors. There were sniffy things that normally got reserved for testing the air in entire apartments. There were things that got stuck to the temples with medical temporary glue. There were gadgets and gizmos and all kinds of things in the second-floor lab at the Firehouse, and all of them got used with the kind of enthusiasm that was endearing (if a bit freaky) in Ray and outright terrifying in Egon. The in-depth examination of the two Drs. Venkman could have gone on for hours, save that even Ray had enough sense to clap a hand over Egon's mouth and say, "I think we're done," when he sensed the word 'probe' making its way to the physicist's speech queue. "What've we got in the way of results, anyway?"

"Not nearly enough analysis to say," Egon answered with a faint scowl. "Give me ninety minutes and I'll have some proper answers for you."

"All right." Ray pulled a couple of coils of wire from the latest device off his shoulder and set them down on the nearest shelf. "So where do we go from here?"

"Anywhere you like, but I would stay relatively close to the Firehall if I were you. If the patterns of the last few days are anything to go by, I have a feeling there's going to be a call coming in this afternoon."

Ray nodded and glanced over at Peter. One of him, anyway. "You heard the man... preferences?"

Comments

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

Venkman and Peter traded glances. They had been doing that a lot since Venkman had arrived.

Venkman said, "Going to stay here. We get a call, easier to have all hands on deck in a matter of seconds that way." He then started to walk away, "Meantime, going to get some reading done. Got more research to do."

Everybody stares at him, (including Peter, but excluding Ray).

Egon asked curiously, "Exactly what are you researching, and do you need any help?"

Venkman simply said, after catching Ray's eyes briefly, "Later. Give me a heads-up when the verdict's in on this." And headed upstairs to read.

Now Peter was the center of attention, and he held his hands up, "Don't look at me, I'm even more confused than you, and it's me. Are we sure he's not an evil clone?"

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"Pretty sure, yeah," Ray said. "That one part where I got blood samples from both of you? Telomere comparison. Aside from some of the usual DNA damage that you get from overexposure to ultraviolet radiation, the two of you really are the same down to the chromosomes- except for the end caps."

"English, Ray. We've been over this before."

"Sorry, Pete. The short version is that I can scientifically prove he's physically older than you, not to mention that he hasn't got any of the massive DNA errors you'd find in a Dolly the Sheep-style clone."

"Okay, well, how about the evil twin theory?"

"Don't be silly, Peter. You haven't got an evil twin. Not unless there's one in the Mirror Unive... wait, Ray, what happened to your hands?"

Ray looked down at the half-forgotten bands of scar tissue. "Long story. It happened outside of Milliways, though."

Winston quirked an eyebrow. "Thought you said that place was at the end of the Universe? How does it have an outside?"

"Gimme a minute to try and explain..."

It took longer than a minute. It took close to half an hour, in fact, and left Egon scowling furiously at Ray's loss of the proton pack. It would have taken a lot longer if Ray hadn't pulled out the holoprojector. THAT diverted attention from the digital camera Ray had acquired, and all but reduced Egon to tears of glee. As Ray was starting to explain the security system he had begun designing (the PKE beacon being too likely to take hours at one go), the phone rang; Janine (still rattled from Venkman's statement about her choice of fiance) got up to answer it.

Moments later, the alarm went off.

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The group downstairs hustled to their lockers to get their jumpsuits and equipment on. A pounding of feet overhead, soon followed by Venkman sliding down the pole. He did wince a little as he got off. *Not as young as I used to be.*

"Hang on, there's an extra suit and pack, right? I'm coming with you."

Peter stepped up to him, "Uh, that's alright, the position's been filled."

Venkman rebuked him, "Hey, what about 'Two heads are better than one?'"

Egon commented, "He does have a point, Peter. We could use the help."

Winston agreed, adding, "Yeah, man, never hurts to have some backup."

[gone_byebye]

The still rattled Peter looked from one man to the next to the next, although his gaze only lighted on Ray for half a moment. "Fine," he said, throwing up his hands. "Whatever. How are we supposed to explain five Ghostbusters on the job instead of four?"

"Considering that this says the ChowBaby's on Eighty-eighth in Astoria is under assault by what sounds like another class six vapor, I don't think anyone on the premises will be in any condition to question our head count." Egon held up the paper Janine had all but thrown at him. "Venkman, get dressed and let's go. The faster we wrap this up, the faster I can get back to data comparisons."

"... rassum frassum evil clone..."

Moments later the Firehouse doors burst open and Ecto-1 rocketed through the unsuspecting Manhattan streets, making for the Triboro Bridge and a slime entity in the vicinity of La Guardia Airport.

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Some time later on, the Ecto-1 pulls into the Firehouse, and the wearied group trudges out. Winston takes the trap downstairs to the containment unit, and Egon immediately heads back up to the lab to continue analysis.

Peter meanwhile stares at Venkman as he unloads the proton pack off of him with a tired sigh.

"Alright, what the hell was that about? You nearly got our faces zapped off!"

Venkman stares back at himself, and seems very calm, "Just liking the opportunity to vent, didn't mean to get out of hand."

Peter snarls, "Yeah, well, watch the attitude next time, pal. I know you mentioned something about a mental vacation, but that's no excuse to get sloppy on the job."

Venkman sighs, "You don't under... Well, maybe you do understand, but not like this. It's just that I've had one of the worst weeks in existence, and the chance to do something normal like a typical work day was a relief." As odd as it is for anyone outside their group to call busting ghosts a typical work day.

[gone_byebye]

Ordinarily Ray would have stepped in to try and calm his two friends down, even if the two friends in question were different renditions of the same man, but other circumstances prevailed. The phone started ringing again; he turned towards Janine's desk, stomach sinking at the thought of another bust so soon. (And got a nasty shock in the form of Janine wearing truly frightening amounts of makeup.) "It's for you, Dr. Stantz," she said, handing the receiver over. He nodded and took the phone.

"Hello?... yes, this is he..."

A pause.

"You're joking," Ray said, eyes going very wide as he stared at a spot on the floor. "When?"

Winston turned at the sound of Ray's suddenly tense voice. Even Egon, who had started back down the stairs to get something he'd forgotten, froze where he was.

"I see. Thank you, Doctor." Ray swallowed, and hung up the phone.

"What is it?" asked Peter, his quarrel with his alternate-universe self mostly forgotten. Ray turned to look at him.

"It's Mike," Ray said. "He escaped."

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Peter stared in horror, while Venkman stares at them blankly.

"Who?" He asks.

[gone_byebye]

"A guy we knew in grad school," Peter said, moving forward to the nearly catatonic Ray's side. "He's-"

"Completely and irredeemably insane," said Egon, coming further down the stairs. "He should've been in a Federal penitentiary, not a psychiatric country club like the one they placed him at."

Winston, whose expression was nearly as blank as Venkman's, looked to the others. "What'd he do?"

"Tried to kill Ray..."

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Venkman's face darkened at this.

"Alright, so what's being done about this bastard then? Any ideas where he might be?"

[gone_byebye]

"He's probably still in the Albany area," Ray said distantly, still not looking up. "They said he just overpowered two guards and walked out of there this morning. Said there was something very strange about his cell, too... you're gonna want to bring your sample bottles, Egon..."

Egon nodded. Peter put a hand on the stunned man's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ray. We won't let him hurt you again."

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Venkman muttered, "Damn right we won't."

Peter came over, and said, "Uh, step down there, chief. I think you better let us handle it. You don't know what he's like."

"Your point being?" Venkman asked.

Egon commented, "He's highly dangerous, we could use his help."

Peter jerked a thumb at Venkman, "You mean Mr. Intensity here? Bad idea."

Winston then suggested, "wait, since Ray knows him better than us, I think it should be his call here."

Venkman sagged a bit at this, but could see their point. He might getting in over his head, and he did have a hard time keeping control during what was supposed to be a routine bust.

[gone_byebye]

"I dunno that you're gonna have a choice, guys," said Janine, pointing at her desk phone. One by one, the sixteen lines were lighting up with calls. "Looks like we just got busy."

Peter swore under his breath. Ray lifted his head. "Somebody needs to check Albany out," he said, "but I don't... I don't think it should be you, Pete." He was looking at the Venkman with the magnetic bracelet as he said it. "Considering where he was and all. I think..."

"Uh-huh, right, where was that again?" Janine was furiously scribbling down information. "West Broadway and where?"

"... we could probably use the backup here more. We'll deal with Mike as we get the chance."

"You're not gonna get the chance any time soon, guys. Wall Street's broken out in a rash of slime." Janine held up three pieces of paper even as she reached for the phone again.

Peter sighed and looked at his analogue. "Looks like you get to stay in the game after all. Welcome to our world, huh?"

It was going to be a long, long afternoon before their proton packs had time to cool down.

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

The guys had finally made it back, looking really worn out.

Peter was tired, but a bit suprised that while Venkman was tired, too, he was also a little giddy at the familiarity of it.

"What are you so excited about?"

His other self grinned, "Just thinking how much I missed this. And I've only been in Milliways for a week."

"Huh, I'd love to have a break from this for a week." Peter commented, but seemed startled by the grave expression he saw on his alternate's face. *Jeez, I or he looks like he's been to hell.*

"No, you wouldn't."

After putting their equipment away, the two argued about who was going to talk to Ray. Eventually it was decided that the younger Peter would do so.

Peter came up to Ray, "How are you holding up with this?"

[gone_byebye]

Ray peeled off his goggles and ran one gloved hand through his hair, heedless of the fact that there was still slime all over his fingers. "Better than I thought," he said. "It helps to have something really immediate to focus on. I've already done the whole 'oh my pitiless universe, I'm going to die' thing this month, and I'd rather not be in that mental space again. This was the first time since the war that I got to use a proton pack for the purpose we always intended."

"I still can't believe you got yourself involved in an actual war like that, you know. But from what you said, you handled yourself well."

"I hope so, Pete, I really do." Ray shook his head. "We can talk about it later. In the meantime, we should probably check on those readings Egon and I got on the two of you."

"No," said Peter. "I should check on those readings, along with Macro-Me over there. You should go take a shower and try to catch your breath. You look like I feel."

Ray looked at his friend for a bit, then silently nodded and resumed undoing his uniform. Peter watched for a while to make sure the other Ghostbuster didn't fall over from exhaustion or some similar fate, then went to look up his alternate self. "If Egon hasn't got our numbers by now, he's never gonna," he said. "Come on. Let's go see the verdict while Stantz hits the showers, huh? We might even get Egon to keep it to two-syllable words if we both go after him at the same time."

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"Alright, wonder twins go, then?" Venkman asks his counterpart.

Vaguely remembering the show, Peter nodded in agreement, "Exactly."

So, moments later, the pair of them were standing outside the door to the lab, quietly counting down, "3...2...1"

They open the door together, and yell out simultaneously, "Hey Egon!"

[gone_byebye]

It's as good as dropping a book on the table being examined with a stethoscope. Although the lab's full of wires, machine rigging, and things that go 'parp', it's just possible to spot a very startled blur of grey and black- Egon jumping half out of his seat- before the clatter and crash that indicates a rolling chair being pushed violently backwards.

"Don't do that," came a voice from somewhere in the vicinity of the floor. "I could've been working with volatiles for all you know."

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"Just testing your reflexes, Egon. No big." Peter remarked casually as he strolled.

Venkman became more serious as he entered behind his younger version, "So, what's the word? I mean, we know about being walking mini-PKE generators, but was hoping to get some info on abiltity to see ghosts. And I don't mean the ones on our typical busts. Also if there's anything to the fact, we tend to luck on out on the injury department."

He added, "Also been studying up on psychic defense, so dunno if anything's going to reflect that, or if anything else was picked up in addition to what Ray got on his meter."

Peter stared at his other self at this. He had heard some of it, but this was surprising.

"Long, long story. If we have time, I'll tell you about it. And you might want to read up on this yourself since you're also a magnet," Venkman said.

Peter wasn't sure how to react to this, so he shrugged, and glanced back at Egon to hear about the results.

[gone_byebye]

"If it were at all possible to do so I would want to get some kind of retinal sample from the both of you," Egon began, picking himself up off the floor. "Some of Ray's information from Milliways indicates that certain individuals in at least one world-line are capable of seeing the section of the energetic spectrum where ordinary electromagnetism and the psychokinetic frequencies overlap. From what he said, it sounds as if the PKE manipulators of that particular world are born with a different distribution of cells in their retinas- the usual rods and cones are interspersed with cells exclusively sensitive to that part of PKE best referred to as 'thaumic energy'."

Peter looked at him.

"Magic, Peter. The people of that world who use magic, can see magic." Egon sighed. "Imprecise terminology is going to be the death of somebody someday… at any rate, the important part is that as nearly as I can tell, the both of you have marginally peculiar neurological 'wiring'. The mild electrical current I ran through your hand-"

"Yeah, about that-"

"Nothing you won't recover from, Peter. Lacking Ray's PKE generation apparatus, which I still want to examine in detail, I had to improvise a proper test. The two of you not only generate low-level psychokinetic energy, but appear to respond to direct stressors with increased levels of PKE output. I’m a little surprised neither of you were the focus of pseudo-poltergeist activity as teenagers."

"We had other things on our minds."

"I'm sure." Egon's mouth twitched a bit. "As it stands, it's entirely possible that what would have become uncontrolled low-level small radius telekinetic ability in another individual was channeled in another, less spectacular direction. The ability of intoxicated passengers to escape serious injury in car accidents compared to sober passengers is a documented phenomenon- their uncoordinated state prevents the kind of subconscious tension that often makes for inconvenient limb placement and muscle damage."

"They're too flexible to get hurt, is what you're saying."

"They can't avoid injury entirely, but- yes. It's my suspicion that your low-level field is just active enough in the face of direct stress or danger, whether you perceive it or not, to either deflect the worst of whatever might be coming your way or to set yourself in motion in such a way that by the time your conscious mind and ordinary reflexes take over, you already have a head start. There were some interesting indications of higher than expected neuronal excitation levels in the brain at the time your field spiked as well, although I'd need more testing to prove that the two are related entirely."

"You are so not getting a sample of my brain tissue, Egon."

"I didn't say I wanted one," Egon protested, but he did look disappointed.

A comment from the peanut gallery.

[drharper.livejournal.com]

((He-he-he! I'm so loving this!

Soooooo, if anyone outside the "family" catches the two Peters together, will there be a Skippy joke?))

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

Venkman sighed, trying to take it all in. It was a lot to understand. He sat down, really uneasy. Apparently he was weirder than he ever expected of himself. He glanced up at his other self, and the younger Peter seemed to be taking it pretty hard as well.

"So what does it all mean? I mean, what happens now?" He asked Egon.

Peter added, "Maybe we should also say something about Mom, especially if any of it's genetic."

Venkman glanced at him, "Yeah, but I'll leave that to you, and you probably want to tell the group about it. Past time they knew the truth anyway."

Re: A comment from the peanut gallery.

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

((Thxs. *bows* And hmmm... well if so.. I would say the elder Venkman's crunchy, while younger Peter would be creamy. ;) ))

Re: A comment from the peanut gallery.

[drharper.livejournal.com]

((*snerk* I mean an "evil twin, Skippy" joke! :D
But I love the personality assessments. ;) ))

[gone_byebye]

Egon lifted an eyebrow. "I can't get you much more information without further testing of one form or another. I'll definitely be working up some form of passive-sensing PKE device with remote recording capability. Something that can be worn during the course of an average day around here, to map exactly what goes on in response to which events. Beyond that, I can feel my blood sugar plummeting like a block of depleted uranium, so if we could make whatever briefing you plan to deliver happen quickly, I would appreciate it."

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Venkman nodded, "Alright, so in for more of the poking and prodding then? Just try to lay off the big needles, that's all I ask."

He then remembered in his pocket, "Oh here, I grabbed these out of the kitchen earlier, forgot I had them with me." He fished a packet of Peanut M&M's out, and hands them to Egon.

"Thanks for all your help with this. Been having a hard time, and Ray's done a lot for me, a lot more than he probably should have at times. Not to mention he wasn't in a good shape when I first got to the bar, too."

Peter headed out, and yelled down the stairs, "Hey Ray, Winston? Can you come up? Janine, you should be up here too. It's important. Venkman twins got an announcement to make."

[gone_byebye]

Egon snatched the packet out of midair with the lightning reflexes of a Staten Island cockroach. "Thank you."

Winston was the first to make it up the stairs; Ray wandered in after him, hair still damp in places. He hadn't found a shampoo yet that could take out ectoplasm without a hell of a washing. Janine brought up the rear, saying, "It's really startin' to be a zoo on the switchboard, Doctor V... what's up?"

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Venkman nodded to Egon, and just said, "It's really important, and it's something we should have said a long time." He then shared a look with Peter, and gave him the go-ahead signal.

Peter then sighed, "Ok, I know I never really talked about my family, but this is something that I've been dealing with for a long time, and before I get to the point of Macro-Me here got, it's gotta be said. Also it'll explain some of Egon's results."

He then started about his mother being diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was five, and instituitionalized until the day she died. Her belief that ghosts were after her and her son, and how they both could see them. His interest in the study of parapsychology and psychology being started by this. Wanting to help people, and prove his mother wrong. How his own denial of what he saw that night, not wanting to scare his father, led to being inherently skeptical about anything and everything. How he still has a hard time dealing at times due to repression.

He didn't say anything about Egon's findings, leaving it to the scientist to explain when he felt better, or after they could run more tests.

Re: A comment from the peanut gallery.

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

((A-ha, I forgot that ref. heh. and thxs.))

[gone_byebye]

Winston leaned back in his chair as Peter spoke, letting out a long, low whistle at the end of it. "That's heavy, man," he said. "That's beyond heavy. I'm surprised you didn't go to pieces already, carrying something like that around. I'd ask why you didn't say something, but I've met enough guys carrying loads like that of their own to understand what you mean..." He glanced to Egon, then back to Peter. "What do you need from us now?"

Janine, who had scoured the excessive makeup from her face before coming up the stairs, murmured, "You know we're right behind you, Doctor V. All of us. Right, Ray?"

Ray nodded. "No question about it. Anything we can do to help, we're there."

"For either, or both, of you," Egon added quietly.

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Peter shrugged, "Right now, just your support with this. Egon told us he needs to take more tests to verify a couple of things. Maybe see if we glow in the dark too, or something."

Venkman then spoke up, "Yeah, and keep an eye so we don't go cuckoo in the next couple of days. I'm managing, but trust me, one crazy Peter is bad enough, much less two."

Peter resisted an urge to shudder, "Damn straight."

[gone_byebye]

"Good, because tomorrow after the tests, I'd like to go up to Albany." Egon adjusted his glasses. "We have a trail to pick up, assuming the police don't do so first." His tone implied that his opinion of the police catching anything, let alone Mike, was extremely low. "I was originally planning on taking Winston along, but given the number of disturbances we have scheduled for check-out tomorrow, I don't know that we'll be able to spare anyone. Will the two of you be all right under the circumstances, do you think?"

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Peter frowned, "Are you sure, Egon? What if you run into anything or even Mike? He took down two guards, and I doubt they were light-weights."

Venkman could see his point, but wht if the busts down here got bad. Another thing. "Does this Mike know where the firehouse is?" Obviously he probably have a general idea where to find them since they were well-advertised. "And if so, should we have somebody to hold down the fort here?"

[gone_byebye]

"His coming back to the asylum is a probability that doesn't concern me very much, Peter. Albany has procedures in place for locking down the area around the psychiatric facilities up there and sweeping the surrounding region. Michael Draverhaven was an extremely intelligent man before the accident. I doubt he'll be lingering in the vicinity very long." He took a breath. "As for the location of the firehouse... He's been confined to the asylum since the late 1990's. Unless they were foolish enough to give a convicted murderer a phone book from 2002 or later, I doubt he's come into possession of our address."

Ray shifted uncomfortably in his chair, rubbing at the side of his upper torso.

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Both Venkmans caught this at the same time, and both asked simultaneously, "Ray, you ok?" They then stared at each other, though missing the weird looks they got at the stereo effect from everyone else.

[gone_byebye]

"Sorry," Ray said, dropping his hand immediately. "That's where, uh..."

"Oh," said Peter, comprehending instantly. "Sorry. Bad memories, huh?"

"Yeah." Abruptly, Ray stood up. "I'll be in the bunkroom if you need me."

Peter watched him go. Eventually, he said, "Psychic defense, huh? Got anything in there about protecting yourself from yourself?"

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Venkman shook his head, "Not in there. But there is information available on that. Defense mechanisms would come to mind."

Peter glanced back at him, "Yeah, it took him a long time to recover after when it happened. I did everything I could to help, and it still took weeks for him to come out of his shell."

Venkman grimly replied, "I know the feeling. Here pass word on that I'll help where they need me. Here, on a bust or whereever."

Peter's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure you're ok?"

He just said, "We both know the answer to that."

And his younger self nodded, and replied, "No, you're not. In fact, you could go wacko at any point again." He seriously asked, "What the fuck happened to you?"

"Gods, death, end of the universe, past horrors haunting me, been getting hit left and right with it. Thought coming here would help."

"And it isn't, is it? Sure, it's like a lot like home, but differences are annoying, and just reminding you that it isn't. And meanwhile we've discovered that we're freaks of nature, and it's adding up to one loony Venkman."

The elder Venkman remarked candidly, "At least here I have a built in second opinion, even if I might as well be talking to myself."

"Maybe it's because you are?" Peter sighs, "Alright, I'll tell Egon. Guessing you're going after Ray."

"Jahwohl, mein doppleganger." And Venkman gives him a slight salute with his index and middle finger together to the side of his forehead.
He then headed after Ray.

Arriving in the bunkroom, Venkman opens the door. "Ray?"

[gone_byebye]

The lights are out when Venkman arrives. Ray's seated on the end of his bed anyway, a box in his lap and a pillow shoved under one arm. As the door opens, he turns his head. "Sorry," he says quietly. "I had to get away for a minute there."

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He nodded knowingly. His counterpart was right, as much as he wished it was home, it wasn't, and staying here would only make things worse. After they dealt with this Mike character, he was going to head back to Milliways. The old saying, 'You can't go home again,' holds true when you're dealing with multiple worlds.

He sits at a bed right by Ray.

"All right, you want to level with me here? Something about this's eating you, and guessing it's not just the fact your old buddy went nuts and tried to kill you. So what is it?"

[gone_byebye]

"Nothing. Everything." He shrugs. "Things nobody in the world ought to be able to understand, I can accomplish. Things that ordinary people deal with every day of their lives, I can't fix. I used to be upset that what we did scientifically made so little difference in people's lives- I mean, you'd think that proving life really does exist after death would make a difference- but I'm okay with that now. At least, as okay as I'm gonna get. It's the idea of some of the difference I could make that scares me... I mean, I was at the controls when the machine exploded- the one that drove Mike over the edge. It was a design flaw or a, a weakness, or something, I don't know. I don't think it was me that did it, but it might've been. The thing with Tim happened, and you turned up, and I thought it was the greatest thing in the world. And then it hurt you." He sets the box aside, giving a small, bitter smile that probably goes unseen in the dark. "Ever get drunk and do something you don't remember the next morning, but really, really regret when you find out about it?"

Before Peter can answer, Ray flicks his holocomputer on. The schematics that pop up may or may not look familiar to Peter, but they're complicated, detailed, and frighteningly realistic. It's not until Ray rotates them through about a hundred and sixty degrees that the design becomes familiar- it's heavier and more powerful than the design Peter knows, but still recognizable. And even if it weren't, the words 'PROTON ASSAULT CANNON MK 0.2' are hovering at the bottom of the three dimensional display.

"I don't like the idea of making this kind of a difference, Pete, but I seem to be good at it anyway. People I care about get hurt and I don't know how to fix it- and I can't even leave myself alone for a minute, apparently. I guess I'm just worried that I'm going to leave a mark on the world after all, and that it's going to be exactly the opposite of what I've ever intended."

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

Venkman stared at the display.

"Jesus," he mutters. He wasn't sure what was more disturbing, the fact that Ray came up with it at all, or the fact he could come up with it while drunk. Pickled brains should not even be capable of making coherent sentences, much less creating weapons of destruction. Not to mention he had an idea of the when and why Ray would be drunk in the first place. Which meant he held some responsibility for this as well.

He sighed, and rubbed his forehead a bit, his index fingers grazing his temples.

He said, "Ray, first of all, not all of it is your fault. Don't try to take the weight of the world on your shoulders. People screw up and make mistakes. Look at me. I just try to move on from them, because that's all you can do."

"Alright, so you ended making an advanced powerful proton weapon while drunk, and you do realize that's a hell of a lot more than most people can do sober?" Venkman then added, "And you're a scientist, as in find a problem and fix it. That's why we're scientists, and not philosophers or moralists. We think of solutions not ethics. And you've also made good things. Hell, you recently proved a working PKE beacon can be built, and it did its job. Nothing wrong with that. Do you know how many scientists who've probably built things or invented things that were applyed in bad ways? Most if not all. That's the problem with discoveries. Somebody out there's always going to think of evil ways to apply it, but that's not us, Ray."

"I mean, you've haven't built it yet, just proved it can be built. And we might actually be able to do a lot of good with it. Ok, I don't know who we're going to get to fire something like that because I know it's not me." He can't help shuddering a little.

[gone_byebye]

Ray watched the designs turn slowly in midair for a while.

"I think I meant well with it," he said softly after a bit. "I think... from what little I remember, I think I wanted something that'd hold the beings in the Bar at bay, if they ever went south on us. I don't know. I might've just been doing it because the idea occurred to me and I couldn't stop myself. I like the first idea better."

He shrugged, and switched off the machine.

"Doesn't matter. The point is, I'm tired of people being hurt." His hand went to the same spot as before. "We have to find Mike as soon as we can, though... before he hurts somebody else."

[doc-venkman.livejournal.com]

Venkman immediately agreed, watching his troubled friend, "I am, too, Ray. I honestly wish there was more I could do to stop it from happening again." He added, muttering just to himself he thought, "If I wasn't walking on eggshells half the time with my burnt-out head here, that is." Ray didn't need to hear how messed up he was right now, and he knew his other self wouldn't say anything unless he ended up as a detriment to the group. He already had an idea he was going to have to remain behind here. His younger self was right, he wasn't in any shape to handle a bust. Not like this. It was too soon, and he just had a helluva more dumped on him. But like hell, he was going to worry his friend with anything about it.

He responded, "We'll get him one way or another. We'll stop him. We've taken on a lot bigger fry than him. He's just some possessed little pissant with some hopped-up powers. That's nothing to us. We're Ghostbusters, when the going gets tough, we get tougher, and go out to face it. Right?"

[gone_byebye]

Ray lifted his head a little at the half-heard murmur, but said nothing. He was in no mood to puzzle the meaning out of the words anyway. When Venkman spoke again he listened, and thought for a bit, and then smiled- maybe not the smile he normally used, not the face-splitting grin that half the papers in New York and virtually everyone in Milliways was used to, but still a smile. "Right," he answered, as firmly as he could. "That's why we get to wear the funny suits, as I believe I said to Andrew when we first started talking in the Bar. All right, then. We'll deal with him tomorrow, but in the meantime there's one other really, really big question..."

He glanced meaningfully at the arrangement of the room. "You gonna arm-wrestle Peter the Younger for the bed, or what?"

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Venkman tensed when he thought Ray heard his offhand remark, but relaxed again.

"Peter the Younger?" He laughed slightly, but it sounded forced, and devoid of his usual humor. He then sagged a bit, and his face briefly revealed how much strain this trip on top of everything else was taking on him, "It's his bed, I don't feel like arguing for it. I'm tired enough I'll just crash anywhere, even the floor." He stood up, and stumbled a moment before he took a proper step.

*Shit, I hope we can get this guy by tomorrow. Before it's too late.* But his mind was divided on whether it was Mike or himself that was running out of time quicker.

"So, time to turn in then? I think I might have spied a couch downstairs with my name on it."

[gone_byebye]

"Nonsense. Even if we didn't have a decent couch, we make a point of having cots and pillows in storage just in case. Let's get you downstairs and set up for the evening, and we'll deal with Mike tomorrow. Who knows? If he's still traveling on foot, we could have him nailed and returned to the pen in time for happy hour."

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Venkman nodded tiredly, worn out, and only semi-focused for several reasons.

"Sounds good, Ray," he yawned, and headed downstairs with Ray to get some sort of temporary sleeping arrangements. He wasn't aware of some of the looks he got as he slowly walked along. Egon seemed thoughtful, Janine looked frazzled and worried, Winston was studying him a bit. But his other self was especially focused on him, his eyes grim, and inner alarm bells going off in his head.

Once the cot was set up, Peter barely said good night to Ray, before his head hit the pillow, and he was asleep in a matter of seconds.