Final Day

[captainryan]

He's insubstantial by the time they come to pick him up. He always is and apparently there's no way to stretch out that 3-day limit on being solid. It puts him in a grumpy mood that he can't grab anything unless he concentrates, though there's little to be done for it.

The Ghostbusters are running late, probably some early morning spectre making trouble. Eventually, the white vehicle pulls up the country lane faster than usual, even with Winston at the wheel. Ryan passes through the door on the passenger side before settling on the seat.

"Morning," he says distractedly, already concentrating on staying solid enough to not slip through the leather.

Comments

[gone_byebye]

"We have to go home," says Egon tersely. "Right now."

Ray nods from the forward passenger seat. "As nearly as we can tell the conditions are going to be absolutely ideal for a doorway to Milliways to be opened at the south end of Manhattan Island in-"

"Drive now. Talk later."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"A Door?" Ryan repeats, eager and hopeful as he forgets to pay attention for a moment and starts to slip through the seat. He catches it and pulls himself out quickly, though. It's not uncomfortable to be in something, but it is unsettling. At least the effort distracts him from how good the Ghostbusters smell, except it's particularly difficult to ignore this morning.

Probably because Egon seems to be a giant chicken.

Ryan freezes, going tense, unnaturally still, and completely predator as he stares at the man.

[gone_byebye]

"Yes," says Egon, not turning so much as an inch in Ryan's direction. "I'm aware of what I smell like right now. The faster we drive the sooner both of us cut-cut-cut-can be out of this situation."

He grimaces at the near slip.

"Drive faster, Winston."

"Man, this is as fast as the car can go on this road."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He's scenting the air in earnest now. The moon's so close, so close, only last night this morning it was full and he doesn't realize for a moment that they're speaking talking communicating-

"Window," he manages, leaning towards Egon. If he doesn't sound like he's entirely there, it's because he isn't.

[gone_byebye]

Screek screek screek screek screek - that's the sound of all four Ghostbusters rolling their windows down at once as fast as a 1959 hearse's window cranks will go.

"Yo, Spengs. Catch," says Peter, and tosses something from under the seat Egon's way.

"Why do we even have Garfield-shaped air fresheners in bulk?" says Egon. Then: "Never- clu-cluck-clu- never mind, I don't need to know." And he starts ripping them open.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

At the sudden pine scent, he sneezes, reflexively backing away from the source. Between that and the scents being swept away from the influx of air, he's able to get a grip on himself.

Kind of.

At least he's not looking at Egon anymore? Or anyone, for that matter.

[gone_byebye]

Which is good, because somewhere along the way Egon shakes out one sleeve and a couple of feathers start drifting loose.

"Hoo, boy. That's not good," says Ray. "Hang on, guys. Both of you. Hey, do you think we have time to stop off at the Firehouse for some chickenbane soup?"

"Not likely, Ray," says Egon, readjusting his glasses. "Given the probable traffic clu-cluck-clu-conditions in Manhattan, and the relatively narrow window of opportunity for the door-"

"I get it, I get it," says Winston wearily. "'Drive faster, Winston'."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's nose twitches every time he catches a trace of human scent and especially when he gets a whiff of Egon.

They smell so. Damn. Good.

"How much further?" he asks, eyes still slammed shut. He doesn't trust himself to look at any of them.

[gone_byebye]

"We're coming up on Spuyten Duyvil now," Winston reports. "From there we just get over the bridge and make it the-"

Egon can't avoid clucking a couple of times involuntarily.

"-length of Manhattan."

"Hey, Egon? Think you'd be okay if we pulled over at 125th and put you on a train or something?" says Peter.

"Unlikely. In my current condition I'm afraid any wrong movement on the part of the subway riders would result in a catastrophically bad response."

"Yeah, well-" Peter's eyes slide to Ryan. "Considering the sort of catastrophe we're gonna have if things don't speed up-"

"I'm doin' the fastest I can, Peter."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan misses the look. His eyes are still closed and he's trying to figure out how much longer he has to keep them that way.

"If there's time, might I suggest stopping to-" A particularly strong bit of prey smell hits his nose and he falters, losing his train of thought.

"Stopping to make me solid so I can eat something acceptable," he finishes in a rush.

[gone_byebye]

"If we can make it to Canal Street fast enough we'll swing by the Firehouse," Winston promises. "Get you fed and drop off Egon as long as we're there. We just passed 160th, though. No promises."

Egon does his best not to cluck any further, but starts rubbing the Garfields between his hands in the meantime. The abrasion should release more of the pine scent.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

It does, and Ryan starts getting more of that scent than the Ghostbusters. Being back in the city helps too, since the powerful and rampant exhaust fumes block out most other smells, at least as far as the street is concerned.

All in all, it allows Ryan to think a little straighter, and ask questions like, "Why are you a giant chicken?"

Nevermind the icon, his eyes are still closed.

[gone_byebye]

"....I've been bitten by a freshly hatched werechicken."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"..." sums it up nicely.

"I hate cartoons," also works well. "What happened to the chicken?"

[gone_byebye]

"It's still hanging off the Empire State Building," says Venkman. "Under a nice comfy blanket of artificially generated snow. If you look over there, you can see it from here."

He's pointing, if Ryan opens his eyes.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

How many people can say they've seen a werechicken hanging off the Empire State Building? It's one of those things you just have to see. So Ryan opens his eyes and sticks his head through the roof to get a better look rather than risking leaning over one of the men. He doesn't expect to see it right away. After all, chickens are rather small.

...apparently werechickens aren't, and he stares agape at the fifty foot frozen chicken squatting on the top of the building.

"You said it was freshly hatched," Ryan says, slightly accusing as he looks at Egon. Quickly realizing that's a bad idea, he shuts his eyes again.

[gone_byebye]

"It was when it b-b-bucawk-- bit me," says Egon. "That happened last night, I'm afraid."

Winston mutters something about Slimer and the oven, and skitters the hearse around a recalcitrant Ryder box truck.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He stiffens at the clucking but does his best to focus on what they're talking about.

"It grew that quickly in only a few hours?"

[gone_byebye]

"So it would appear," says Egon grimly. "Winston, how much farther now?"

"Not far. Hang on, guys, this is where we get off the highway."

Ecto-1 doesn't exactly have a narrow turn radius and the streets are a lot twistier than they have any right to be in this part of the city. It shouldn't be long before they're at the Firehouse, at least.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan cracks one eye open to get an idea of where they are, relieved to see it's nearly to the Firehouse. He just has to hold himself in check a little bit longer until he's solid and can eat.

No, NOT the people in the car. He grits his teeth against that thought.

[gone_byebye]

"Ray, can you work the machine without me?" says Egon. "I don't think it would be a good idea to-"

"I worked it the first time it was ever made, Egon. Go and stick some chickenbane up your nose, okay?"

"Thank you," says Egon gratefully, and darts from the car, a cloud of feathers trailing behind him.

"We'll have some roast beef sandwiches waiting for when you get solid again," Ray says. "Come on, let's get this done with- the faster we get finished here, the faster we can try that door. It's at the Staten Island ferry terminal."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan nearly darts after Egon but manages to keep himself from giving chase, despite his obvious desire to do otherwise. Instead he stalks after Ray to the machine that'll turn him solid again. Egon and Ray have both made adjustments to it since the first use, and while the accompanying nausea is nowhere near as bad as it was, it's still strong enough to put him off of food.

For about five minutes.

"I can eat in the car," he manages around a mouthful of sandwich as he waves those coming with to the vehicle. He stopped to put his holster on, and while the weight of the gun on his hip is familiar, it's also odd after six months of not having it there.

[gone_byebye]

"Good. It's a grand total of one and a half miles," says Ray. "Shouldn't take long at this time of day."

It's just Ray and Ryan in the car t his time, mostly for safety's sake. After all, someone's got to make sure Egon gets the chickenbane down his throat okay. Not to mention that Ray drives like the less talented of the two Blues Brothers. At least it's mostly a straight run down Broadway.

The observant might note that although they are a full avenue block to the west, the route runs past both the towers of the World Trade Center.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's busy eating.

Besides that, he died before 9/11 and has only heard about it once. Even for something as huge as that, not living through it makes it just a story, and not one that comes to mind as they pass in favour of focusing on roast beef.

[gone_byebye]

Fair enough.

The hearse is really going much too fast for roads this narrow and crowded, but the locals are sort of used to it by now. The blaring siren and the flashing blue lights are a dead giveaway, anyway, and so cars are shuttling madly to the side of the road. Those that aren't, well, Ray manages to navigate around them anyway.

"There we go," he says, pointing with one hand as he pulls around a curve in the road at last. "Battery Park. And on the other side of it, right at the very tip of Manhattan? The ferry terminal, and the door."

The car jolts to a halt and Ray silences the noise and lights. "ready?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

There's silence a moment, then, "Yeah." Ryan gets out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him.

Home.

[gone_byebye]

Ray nods. "Okay everybody! Excuse me! Coming through! If you would all just please move aside! Everyone?"

Pause.

"EVERYBODY MOVE."

He's no Andre the Giant, but it has roughly the same effect as it did in The Princess Bride.

"Okay! Come on, Ryan! This way!" And he runs for the door into the ferry terminal, and from the terminal out to-

Well.

That's not the Hudson River on the other side any more.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, that was impressive. Ryan didn't know Ray was capable of that volume.

But it's forgotten when he sees what's through the Door. There's a rush of scents that he hasn't smelled for months. Home.

But he doesn't head through just yet. "Thank you, Ray. All of you." For taking him in. For putting up with him. For getting him home.

[gone_byebye]

Cartoon physics. That, and cartoon voice sharing. In another continuum entirely, Ray's voice- a little altered, but still Ray's voice- is the voice of Megatron.

Ray smiles. "You're welcome," he says. "It was great having you here. I'll tell everybody you said goodbye, okay?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry we didn't have the time to do it properly," Ryan answers. The sentiment behind it is sincere, but he doesn't really mean it. It would've been awkward, and he strongly suspects Slimer would have tried to hug him goodbye.

He's not really interested in returning to Milliways coated in slime. But then, he's never interested in being coated in slime.

"I'll look for you if you're ever barside," he promises, shaking the man's hand (so very hard to limit it to just that with the moon) and steps through the Door (http://community.livejournal.com/milliways_bar/18327085.html).