Toastbusters

Rated K+

Janine paused, leaning back into the desk chair to nibble nervously on a fingernail.

The boys had gone out on an early call almost two hours ago. Two hours too long. Knowing them, this could indicate anything from an impromptu coffee break to a serious situation. Was she worrying over nothing? They had saved the world on several different occasions, coming out each time relatively unscathed. How difficult could it be to clean up a gang of rowdy class two kitchen poltergeists?

The phone rang. Janine jumped to snatch it.

"Ghostbusters!" she gasped, then deflated when she realized it wasn't the guys checking in. Just another customer. She found a piece of paper and jotted down the information. "Right, I'll send'em over later today."

If they make it back, that is.

She plunked the receiver back down onto its base.

"They're fine," she said out loud, trying to counter her mounting fear.

She was considering suiting up and going after them (something she did on occasion when they got in a little too far over their heads) when the garage doors at the front of the Firehouse opened and Ecto-1 pulled in.

Janine leaped to her feet as they emerged from the vehicle, about to dash over and wrap her arms around each of them in turn, but stopped in her tracks. All four were covered from head to toe in a sticky purple goo.

"What happened?!"

Ray wiped a bit of the slime from his forehead with a finger, then stuck it in his mouth, grinning happily.

"Delicious!"

Janine nearly dry-heaved. "Oh, Ray, that's disgusting! Don't eat that, you don't know where it's been!"

"Don't worry, it's sanitary," said Egon. "Well, mostly. It was in a jar."

"A jar?" Janine raised an eyebrow.

"Until we blew it up, yes."

"It's grape jelly," Peter clarified, sounding much more disgruntled than usual. "And it's gonna take some serious scrubbing to get it out of Ecto's upholstery. I nominate Ray."

Janine choked back a snort of laughter. "Grape jelly? All right, guys, what really happened?"

Naturally, Ray was first to answer. "It. Was. Incredible!"

Winston huffed. "Speak for yourself, man."

"You shoulda seen it! The little creeps got into everything! I'm talkin' cereal all over the place—"

"Pots and pans flying around," put in Winston. "That hurt."

"Egg yolk splattered on the walls," Egon added.

"Did you get a sample?" snarked Peter.

"Yes."

"Oh, goody."

"And let's not forget that Ray was nearly eaten by an oven," Winston finished.

"Yeah," Ray sighed, "that probably could've been handled better—ahem, Peter—"

"What?! Okay, you just hold it right there, mister. I'm not the one that—"

"—but it was nothing compared to the toaster. Oh, wow, that toaster was somethin' else, amiright?"

Janine blinked. "Do…do I even want to know?"

"No," chorused the other three.

"All I'm gonna say is I got crumbs in places crumbs shouldn't be," muttered Winston.

"Um…ew?"

"Hey, fellas," Ray called cheerfully, heading for the stairs, "breakfast's on me today! What'll it be?"

"Anything," Peter growled as they all followed, "but toast."