Day 2-3

[captainryan]

The second day passes much like the first with Stantz volunteering to open doors when he’s not away on a bust. When a call does come in, it leaves Ryan to prowl the empty rooms, frustrated and increasingly worried. If Suzi and Deitmar’s trip is anything to judge by, he’s going to be here for quite some time. It’s not reassuring in the least, especially since, according to Spengelar, he’s going to start fading on the third day. He knows the man has a machine to fix it, but…

It scares him.

So he does what he usually does when something bothers him that much and he can’t do anything; he ignores it.

The third day proceeds as eventfully as the first two. On a late afternoon call, Ryan’s again stalking through the rooms (he knows the layout by heart now) and keeping himself busy by imagining the many different and inspired ways he can destroy the stone angel responsible for all of this. C4 is getting some serious thought when he reaches for the door handle to the next room and misses it. Scowling at himself for not paying attention, he reaches for the metal again only to find that his hand passes through the knob, leaving a thin coating of ectoplasm behind.

He’s frozen a moment, hand just underneath the handle, watching it fade further until it’s quite clearly translucent. A whimper escapes from him and he slams his emotions down, refusing to allow himself to panic no matter how hard and fast his heart is pounding. He’s never been quite so clearly dead as he is right now, but he can’t focus on that. He can’t. One step at a time; he needs to get downstairs, only he can’t open the door. He knows he can step through the wood, but the thought is unsettling in the worst possible way.

Eventually he forces his eyes shut and steps forward, hearing the schloop sound and feeling the wood pass through him. He feels a bit lighter, now, as though he’s left something behind and realizes that’s probably from passing through a solid obj—no. He’s not going to think about it. He’s going to focus on walking downstairs, but his boots don’t make a sound on the wooden floors, drawing his attention away from his task. He could probably float if he wanted to, and no sooner is the thought finished before he is. He flails, immensely distressed, and wills himself to return to the ground.

Slowly, slowly, he makes it down the stairs to the front desk with about as many mishaps.

“Ms. Melnitz?” he asks as calmly as he can. “How soon are they returning?”

Comments

[gone_byebye]

Janine peers over her glasses at the man. "Huh," she says. "Well, Egon got that machine of his up and running again this morning. At least, I think he did. If I'd ever worked it before I'd offer to turn it on ya myself."

This is 1987. No cell phones.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan would be considering how to recommend CB radios right now if he weren't distracted by how to stop sinking through the floor.

"I see," he says, managing to get his legs out of the wood, leaving himself to float a few inches above the ground. It's a bit like zero G's, a detached part of him notes.

It really doesn't make him feel any better.

"I'll wait, then," he adds, voice still oddly flat. He opts to stop moving until the Ghostbusters return, trying to pretend he's on a boat. Or something. Anything so he doesn't have to think about how quickly his fading progressed this far.

[gone_byebye]

"If it helps at all, Dr. Stantz has a corner in the upstairs lab that Slimer can't pass through," Janine suggests. "You might wanna hang out there and wait for him. Can I get you anything in the meantime?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

But that means he'd have to go back upstairs!

Ryan's not particularly fond of that idea. Plain old not moving seems much easier.

Nor does he seem impressed by Janine's offer. "Such as?" he asks, a hint of his usual charming self showing through.

[gone_byebye]

"Something from Dr. Spengler's library, maybe?" says Janine, who, being Noo Yawk all the way down to the bone, is remarkably unimpressed herself. "Or one of Winston's chess sets? I don't play so much myself, but you never know."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He's turned into a ghost and she wants to play chess. If Ryan were the sort to twitch, he'd do so now.

"I can't move the pieces," he informs her coolly, teeth bared slightly.

[gone_byebye]

"Huh. Are you sure you don't have poltergeist powers?" Janine says. "Slimer doesn't, but a lot of the ghosts the guys deal with do."

Janine's expression bespeaks nothing so much as a lifetime of dealing with her fellow city folk. You get snarly people all the time in Brooklyn.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Oh, they'll get along fine, then.

"Do you think I haven't tried?" Ryan half snarls, half sneers. "I just...pass through everything," he finishes quietly, the snarl fading away to something that looks very nearly haunted.

No pun intended.

[gone_byebye]

"You might be trying too hard, you know," says Janine. "It's funny how many things get easier to do if you don't think about them too much. I mean, yeah, maybe you can't do it, that'd be fine, but putting too much effort into it's not gonna do you any good either, you know?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The flat, unimpressed look is back.

"And how many times have you been a ghost?"

Perhaps waiting by the desk isn't such a good idea after all.

[gone_byebye]

"Not as many as Egon," Janine shoots right back.

(We should note that Egon's count is no higher than two at the very most, but it's still an accurate statement.)

"They're gonna be back in a couple of hours, I promise."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan looks at her a moment longer before squaring his shoulders and drawing himself upright, both physically and mentally gathering himself.

"Fair enough."

So he's going to have to wait a couple of hours. He can do that. Easily. He's nothing if not patient. But twenty minutes in, he can't stand being still and starts to stalk through the firehouse again, literally. At first he sticks to open doorways, avoiding the closed rooms, but eventually he starts testing the limits of his phasing.

It's something to do, and it keeps him from checking to see if he's faded further.

[gone_byebye]

Probably just as well, really. Eventually, though, there's the sound of an engine pulling to a stop downstairs. "Whoo!" comes Venkman's voice from below. "What a mess!"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's recovering from Ray's ghostproof wall. For a moment he thinks he's solid again, but it just takes his hand coming up to check his nose to dash that thought.

With his face still smarting, he manages to sink through the floor to the garage, arms folded across his chest and boots appearing to rest on the floor.

"Welcome back," he says coolly as he looks them over.

[gone_byebye]

"Nice dissolve," says Venkman. "Okay, guys, I'm gonna go put the goopers away- you boys need anything?"

"Not particularly," says Egon. "I take it from the look of things that we've come back at a fortuitous time. I'll go warm up the machine."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Venkman gets something of a dry look before Ryan turns his attention to Egon.

"Please do," he says, eyes focused on the bridge of the man's nose.

[gone_byebye]

Some time later, Ray comes downstairs and reports that the machine is ready. Egon is waiting upstairs at the controls. "We've utilized this machine's theories and parts twice before," says Spengler. "Once in its original form, and once to restore my colleagues here and myself to solidity. They'd been forced to transfer over to the Netherworld after I'd been struck by the original blast and forcibly converted into a quasi-ghostly state myself. We haven't tested it on a genuine ghost yet, but since we're only attempting to restore you to your Milliways state of coherence, that shouldn't be a problem."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan can't really be much more unnerved than he is already. He could say something smart about it being a very big problem, though he's not sure how it could get worse. After all, he's already a ghost.

Though...

"Why did they have to transfer to the Netherworld?" he asks as he moves into position.

[gone_byebye]

"Largely because my own molecules had already been completely shifted into the netherworld through an earlier technological accident, and they had to locate me personally in order to reverse the process," says Egon. "Are you ready, Captain?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Yes." A soldier's answer, but Ryan's been ready since he walked through his first door.

Hopefully the guys won't mind any remaining ectoplasm.

[gone_byebye]

"Good."

Egon flips several switches before finally bringing his finger down on the big red switch, and the machine springs to life with a brilliant beam of blue-white light directed at Ryan's form.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan tenses against the light expecting...well, he's not sure what. For a brief moment, the world glows, almost shimmering.

The next it's spinning. Or he's spinning. Maybe they're both spinning. He doesn't know. He can't see straight, he doesn't know which way is up, and WHY WON'T THE WORLD STOP MOVING? Off-balance and about to fall, Ryan takes a step back, boot thunking against the floor.

Then the light's off and the world is as solid as ever, only Ryan has to decide whether or not he's going to be ill.

[gone_byebye]

There's a chair being shoved into place just behind him, and Ray's voice says, "I think we're gonna have to make a few modifications, Egon."

"I agree, Ray. Let me check my notes..."

"Captain Ryan? How're you doing?" Ray asks.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan sits, bent over and head between his legs. He feels, well, sick as a dog. However, that's a very vulnerable position to be in, and Ryan is soon lifting his head back up despite the queasiness.

"I'll be fine," he coughs weakly, making no move to stand.

[gone_byebye]

"All right. Let me know if you need a bucket or anything," Ray says. "Does everything at least feel solid for now?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The werewolf holds up a hand, flexing his fingers as he checks to make sure he can't see through them. They seem solid enough, but to make sure he raps against the chair with his knuckles.

"It seems that way," he answers Ray, a genuine smile working its way across his face.

[gone_byebye]

"Great!" says Ray. "We'll have it tweaked as soon as we can so it won't give you so much trouble next time. Are you hungry? Winston's making-"

"Ray!" Egon snaps. "Not with you-know-who in the room!"

"Oh. Right." There's a little green blob poking his head through a nearby wall. "Slimer? Peter's got jellybeans hidden in his socks."

"GRBLAH!" shouts Slimer gleefully, promptly vanishing in search of Dr. Venkman.

"Peter's going to kill me for that," says Ray, "but it'll be worth it. Winston's making burgers tonight."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan is starving and while the thought of food makes his still queasy stomach shudder a bit, he's too hungry to care.

He perks at the mention of burgers, particularly since the Ghostbusters are aware of how much he can eat by now. Between Ryan and Slimer, they may never have leftovers again.

"Sounds good," he says, easing himself to his feet. "Thank you both." And he doesn't mean just for the food.